RECONNECTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD - Carter Conlon

- Praise God. In dog years, I'm 511 years old on my... (congregation laughing) Praise God. Thank you, maybe seated. I'm so thankful for Pastor Tim, and I know you are too as well. I'm thankful for the clarion call that is going out from this pulpit, and it's going all over the world. And by God's grace, we're gonna continue to lift up our pastor and pray for him, and for the burden that you have no idea, I do. Many of you don't have any idea the weight that this pulpit puts on a man. It's a phenomenal weight. I used to say years ago, when I came through the Lincoln Tunnel, when I lived in New Jersey, I would pick up my baby grand piano, when I came through and put it on my back for the whole time I was here. There's just a weight you cannot describe. But God has given this... This church had a prophetic word over it that was given to David Wilkerson in 1987 when it was first initiated by the Holy Spirit. That this church was going to be a lighthouse. This pulpit would be a lighthouse, and the darker it got,

the farther the beam was going to go around the world. And we look at the screen and all of our services, and we see that prophetic word that the Holy Spirit gave to David Wilkerson is now being fulfilled right before our eyes. And the darker it gets, the more people are going to start coming in. And I don't know what it is that's going to happen in our country or maybe in this city that's going to bring an influx, and maybe worldwide, but it's going to bring an influx of people in and in uncounted numbers. Just before I turned the pulpit over, when Pastor Tim first came in 2020, I had a word from the Lord, and I passed it on to Pastor Tim, and the word was from John 21, where the disciples had been fishing all night and they caught nothing. And Jesus said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat. And what the Holy Spirit spoke to me is cast the internet on the right side of the boat. And the scripture says that, you know, it intimates that he sent the fish into the net. And Pastor Tim for six years has been casting the internet on the right side of this church, and it's gone all over the world. Now God is going to send the people in.

They're going to come. Now, I don't know what the catalyst will be that causes that. Who knows? I mean, we're living on the edge of instability in this world and an ever-increasing measure. We don't know what some of these foreign nations are going to do. We don't know what kind of calamity we're going to wake up to in the morning, if at all. But I do know that God promises he will have a people. And I do know that he will give his people strength if we want to have the strength that God is willing to give us. We have to desire the strength. It doesn't just fall on us without any initiative on our part. We have to love the word of God. We have to want the things of God. We have to go in the direction of God. And if we promise to do that, he will give us the strength. Thank God. Thank God for the promises of God. Thank God. I'll be 73 on Wednesday. And I feel a new lease on life, honestly, do. I just, a new passion. A passion for him. A passion first for Jesus Christ.

And for his word. And then for his work and his calling and whatever it is. And then for this generation. A generation that has largely been robbed of truth. A generation that maybe doesn't yet fully know how God longs to give his power to those who turn to him. But I believe that we will as we open our hearts to it. It's an amazing thing. As Jesus once said to the churches in Revelation, he was ears to hear, let him hear or let her hear what the Spirit's saying to the churches. He wasn't speaking to the church to harm her. He was speaking to the church to strengthen her and to take her into the future with assurance in her step and an influence that can cause good to happen around us. Each one of us have a sphere of influence. Whether it's in our own families, it can go from there to the hallway of our apartment buildings that can go into the workplace or wherever it is we travel. We've all been given a sphere of influence. And every last one of us is a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now we're a preacher because we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And we have the power of the Spirit of God, resident within our earth and vessels, and he has equipped our mouths to speak truth. He's given us new eyes to seize. heart to believe that all things are still possible with God, that He can take us from wherever we are and make us into whatever He's destined us to be.

That's the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank God for yesterday, but that's gone. And thank God for today. It's wonderful to be alive today, but I'm looking forward to what God's going to do tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after, as the Psalm says, "Morning by morning, new mercies I see, morning by morning. I don't want to wake up in the morning and be thinking about yesterday. I want to wake up and think about tomorrow. What it is that God wants to do, and where He wants to lead, and how His name can be glorified." Now, we're living in a perilous time. There's no doubt about the hour that we're living in is indeed, as the Scripture tells us, it's a perilous hour. I know that. And history repeats itself. The ways of man don't change. The circumstances change, and the ages change, but the ways of man don't change. And you'll see, when Jesus Christ walked the earth as a man, He first faced, may I call it just inquiry, you know, people coming up and asking questions out of some genuine curiosity, then the inquiry turned to scorn. Then it turned to accusation. Then it turned to trial, and ultimately turned to violence. And that's the natural progression of sin in the world. Sin hates the presence of God. Sin hates the light and the life of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. And we're living in a day that is starting to turn towards thoughts of achieving its objectives through violence, if necessary. There are some people all purporting it, the godless are purporting it. If we can't get it any other way, this is the way we're going to get it. We're going to get our objectives, and we're going to build our golden statue, and the people of this generation will bow down, and they will worship it.

And when they hear the music, as Nebuchadnezzar once said, "You either bow down or you burn, or we throw you into a place where it's going to get very, very hot for you." There were so many children of God in that kingdom at that time. I leaned over to pastor Tim during the worship, and I said, "We don't know the names of the tens of thousands that bent their knee to the gods of that age." And they said, "Well, God, you know, you understand. You understand in my heart that I really don't mean it, but I'm just not interested in going through the fiery furnace." So they bent their knee. But we do know the names of three Hebrew boys who didn't, who didn't bend their knee. And it was because of them that Nebuchadnezzar saw the fourth man in the fire. I'm not convinced they saw the fourth man, but I'm convinced because of Scripture that Nebuchadnezzar saw the fourth man. And when you and I are willing to face whatever we have to face in the days ahead, and we stand for what we know to be true, in spite of the consequences, the people outside of us, they look and they see a strength in us that can only come from God. They understand that there is a fourth man in our fire. There's somebody else with us walking. We're not doing this alone because they know that they could not stand where we are standing. When Jesus Christ was taken into captivity and put on trial and then ultimately crucified, there were different types of people at that time. Now there was a group of people that the Scripture says they went to the crucifixion of Christ, but they stood far off. In other words, I kind of believe I'm part of this, but I don't necessarily want to be associated with this at this time. It's not a popular time. The society has risen up. The violence against God is in the fore, and so I'm here, but I'm kind of standing in the shadows. I don't want to get too close to the cross.

Then there were people like Peter who was discipled for three years. The purest school of ministry you could ever attend in your lifetime, words right from the mouth of the Son of God, and yet the Scripture tells us that when Christ was put on trial and being mocked, He stood and warned Himself by a fire, but just close, but far enough away. It's the type of person who comes to church, and I really don't want to get into the fray. I really don't want to be associated with this man who's being mocked at this time, but I'll come to church and kind of warn myself by the fire, but I don't really want to get too close. Then of course, the next time that Peter was confronted, he changed his conversation and began to curse and swear, and just a lot of people had tried to hide who they are by entering into the conversations of others, and there's so much uncivil conversation going on right now, isn't there? and Peter disguised his speech to kind of fit in with the people where he was, as opposed to standing out as a disciple of Jesus Christ. But God in His mercy is going to give us the strength. I'm going to tell you a prayer at the end of this message that you can pray. And if you pray it from a sincere heart, you can virtually guarantee that God's going to give you the strength you need to get through the days ahead and not just get through. Make a difference. I don't want to just get through. I want to make a difference. I want to be a catalyst for good. I want to go into the colleges. If the Lord keeps opening the doors and I want to stand for Christ and say what needs to be said. I'm on the radio across the country in 300 or 400 stations, whatever it is right now. I'm not going to draw back. I want to say what needs to be said at this time to turn people back to God and back to prayer. And I honestly don't care about the threats that are out there. I'm too old to threaten now. I don't really care anymore. I'm going the full distance with God and let it be what it's going to be. But all I ask, all I ask, I ask two things. Jesus Christ, would you be glorified through my life? And God, would you bring people out of darkness and into light? Would you bring them out of hell and into heaven? Would you bring them out of sin and into forgiveness? God, would you work a work that can only be done by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in this generation? So it's a choice we have to make. I'm making that choice. I made it in my heart. I'm not retiring. I'm not going to be quiet. I'm not going to go away.

I'm going to speak the gospel of Jesus Christ to this generation. And I refuse to sanitize what I say. I'm going to say what needs to be said when the Holy Spirit moves upon my heart. That's the word I want to speak. Let it fall where it may. I'm not bending to the Nebuchadnezzars of this generation. The threats to say, well, you either agree with us and you bend your knee and worship here or it's going to get hot for you. Well, let it get hot. I really don't care. I really don't care anymore. I'm going to stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've been threatened before, so I get this. I was called into my boss's office when I was a police officer and he was spitting mad. He was so ready. He looked like a tomato on the other side of the desk and he was infuriated at me. He said, "This is not an evangelical association. We are our police department and you're not to be out there talking to people in the community about Jesus Christ. Do you understand?" I looked at him and I said, "You need God in your life." He got doubly mad. He said, "What makes you say that?" I said, "Because the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, a man with no control over his spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls." I said, "You have no control over your spirit." I said, "You're like a city that's walls are broken. You never guess what happened." He stopped and he started sharing his struggles. I ended up going to church with his wife. Thank God for that. That's all I can say. Thank God. When you come to the crossroad, take the crossroad. I want you to picture a cross in your mind. It's got a vertical pole and then you've got this cross piece, which was called the "stipes" I believe. It's in the shape of a "t". You and I started at the bottom of the cross when we come to Christ and we're working our way straight up to the throne of God, where our whole passion is to live for Christ and to have His word abiding within us and to have our lives used for His purpose and for His glory. And eventually when we get to the top of that road to have Him look us in the eye and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in a few things. Behold, I'll make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord." Now, when you get about two-thirds of the way up that cross, there's a choice you have to make. You can go left or you can go right. You can take a deviation. And we're going to talk about that as we read the Scriptures today. Proverbs chapter 4, "Father, I thank you, God, for the touch of your Holy Spirit. I thank you for the strength, God of your word. I thank you, Lord, for the wholesomeness of this congregation. Lord, I actually can hear the wholesomeness in the

the worship. Not everybody is completely free, but everybody wants to So, God, I'm asking, Lord, that you would just, you say in your word, that you build us as your people, lying upon line, precept upon precept, a little here and a little there. So, God, would you, would you just continue to build what you're doing in each one of our lives? Don't let us turn away from it, God. Help us, Lord, Jesus Christ, to embrace the truths that we hear, to walk in it, and ultimately to make a difference for your kingdom's sake and for your glory. And we ask it in Jesus' name, amen and amen. Praise God. Now, this is from the book of Proverbs, and an interesting sidebar when we read this is, I believe that God was speaking to Solomon when he was given these words, but he didn't obey what he was writing. Even though it was the inspired Word of Scripture, Solomon ended up, in my opinion, a reprobate at the end of his life. He was the wisest man that ever lived, but he wasn't smart. And he was writing down things that could have saved him, and he wouldn't listen. So, I'm praying today, God, would you help me to listen to what I'm about to read? Man, not just be, just more words that I read that don't apply, but, oh, God, would you cause these words to etch themselves on my heart? Isn't that your promise that you would come one day and you would write your laws on our heart? So, God, write this on my heart as I read it today. "Here, my son," verse 10, "and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many." What a wonderful promise, isn't it? Hear the Word of God. "Receive the things I say to you, and God promises length of life, God promises a productive life. I've taught you in the way of wisdom. I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction. Do not let her go. Keep her for she is your life. Take firm hold of the Word of God. Not just a casual thing, not just a looseness, not just the things I like, but the entire Word of God. Take hold of it and say, "God, this is my life. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they've done evil, and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what makes them stumble. My son, give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes.

Keep them in the midst of your heart. For their life to those who find them in health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of its spring the issues of life, put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Remove your foot from evil. I want to read to you an article from the full life study Bible that's a commentary on the days that Paul the Apostle warned about, the last days that we're now I'm convinced living in. Both Jesus and Paul paint a dismal picture morally, spiritually, and doctrinally as the present age closes. Paul in particular stresses that the churches will be invaded by godless elements in the last days. This falling away within the church will have two dimensions. Theological apostasy is the departure from and rejection of a part or all of the original teachings of Christ and the apostles. False leaders will offer salvation and cheap grace, while ignoring Christ's demand for repentance, separation from immorality and loyalty to God and His standards. False hope that sinners on human activity and goals of self-interest will become popular. Moral apostasy is a severing of one's saving relationship with Christ and returning to sin and immorality. Some leaders may proclaim right doctrine, yet abandon God's moral law and standards of righteousness and thereby corrupt the truth and loose deception. Many churches The gospel of the cross, with its call to suffer, to radically renounce sin and to sacrifice for God's kingdom and to deny oneself, will become unpopular. Both church history and the predicted falling away at the end time warn believers not to be naive about widespread corruption of the gospel. At some point in church history rebellion against God and His Word will reach astounding proportions. The day of the Lord will bring God's wrath on those who reject His truth. Make no mistake about it, we are now entering, or perhaps we are even well into the days that are described here and spoken about in Scripture. Verse 16 of Proverbs 4, "Tell us that the wicked are now relentlessly pursuing everything contrary to truth and godliness. They do not sleep unless they have done evil, and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone to fall. They are fed on that which the Bible declares to be evil, and they see violence as a legitimate

way of achieving their ends. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. It is always the pattern of godlessness. As they crucified Christ, don't think there be any civility in our generation. There's a whole contingency of the godless if they cannot get their way in one way they'll get it another way, even if they have to resort to violence. It's not something unusual to hear people that are even ascribing to violence as a legitimate way of achieving their new and euphoric society as they see it needs to be. They live in darkness according to verse 19. The way of the wicked is like darkness, and they do not know what makes them stumble, and they're unaware of the depths of sorrow into which their path is leading them." So it's in this context that God says in verse 13, "It's a plea to the last day's church. Come hold of instruction, do not let her go, keep her for she is your life." We're not called to cherry-picked truth, you understand. Take firm hold of what God says, even what you're hearing today, that these are not good days. Yes they are because Christ is still in the business of saving us and holding us in the palm of the hand of God the Father, but the days are dark and the days are difficult, and there's a rebellion against truth that's happening. It's almost worldwide now, and we're living on the edge of things changing in one hour. The prophet Isaiah said, "In one hour everything can change." We saw that on 9/11. I was here, I was pastoring here when that happened. God warned us, He forewarned us about three months before that a crisis was coming to the city. We canceled everything, canceled the missions conference, the women's conference, all of our guest speakers, and we began to meet and pray and the Holy Spirit said, "Teach the people to come to the throne of grace to find help in time of need." And so we began to do that, and we began to talk about a crisis coming to the city,

a major crisis where people would be fleeing and running in the streets. We began to teach the people, "You need to be ready." And we had people leave the church at that time. I don't know how many, it's more than a hundred or two, that's for sure, who just said, "Look, we came here to be blessed. We didn't come here to hear that there's going to be a crisis in the city." Well, whoever thought that God forewarning of a coming crisis is not blessing you. That is the ultimate blessing. When God speaks and says, "I want to give you strength," they had a picture of what blessing is. Blessing is just happy, clappy, everything is fine, everything's going to be good, we're never going to run into any problems where the head and not the tail and all the rest of this stuff, but it's negligent if the Holy Spirit speaks about a day coming and we don't reach out, especially those who are in the pulp, but to speak to the people of God and say, "This is coming our way. We need to prepare so that we can be part of the solution and not part of the problem. We need to come to God's throne now because God is willing to give us the strength that we're going to need to go through these days, not wringing our hands, but opening our hands and saying, "Listen, welcome to the kingdom of God. Come into the kingdom of God. Be part of the everlasting kingdom that was freely given to us through the cross two thousand years ago." And of course, when September 11th came. they were so thankful, they said, you warned us. We were told, we went to the throne of God. We found grace to help. And when 9/11 came, people were running to the church, not out of fear. They were coming here saying, tell us what to do. Tell us what to do.

We made food for the people that were gonna be running down, and they did come running down Broadway. We had prepared to put up people overnight if they needed accommodation, but even more. So the church was ready to comfort. The arms of God's people were open. We weren't wringing our hands saying, oh, what shall we do? Where shall we go? No. And people were coming in from all over the world. Folks, you have to understand that there's a lot of tourists in New York City. And because the airports were all shut down, they were stranded and the hotels were full. And some people had nowhere to stay. And night after night, they were flooding in here, giving their lives to Jesus Christ. It's almost like the church service started with an altar call and then went to the preaching of the gospel. People were so afraid. And because of the fear in their hearts, they didn't know if it was the end of the world, honestly. I remember one Tuesday night, I believe it was a Tuesday night. I had to ask the people to stop kneeling in the aisles. They were creating a fire hazard in here if there was any kind of crisis. So I said, look, I know you wanna give your lives to Christ, but you can do that in your seat. You don't have to kneel in the aisles. And what a phenomenal problem to have.

And we saw people running in here from literally all over the world, giving their lives. I don't know how many came to Christ 'cause a lot of people of course went home after this was all over. But Pastor Tim, this is gonna happen again. They're gonna come from all over the world, online this time. They're gonna come in. They're gonna say, I don't know what is going to be the catalyst that causes. I really don't know. I didn't know back in 9/11 either. I have no idea, but something is going to cause the people to start coming in online. And they're gonna be looking and seeing what's happening here. What are the people at Times Square Church doing? Are we still able to worship? Or was our worship just contingent on a good feeling and good times? Can we worship when times get tough? Ah ha, you know, we can preach about Paul and Silas and jail and singing at midnight, but can we do that? Can we do that when things go south? Can we do that when we don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring? Can we still sing? And I tell you, if we make the choice to still worship, that's where the power of God comes down. That's where things start to shake.

That's where prison doors start to open. That's where Philippians and jailers start to get saved. Thank God when we choose to praise God in the midst of what other people can't because they're outside of where the strength of God really is. Now, take firm hold, he says, of instruction. Do not let her go for, she is your life. In Psalm 119, verse 97, I was thinking about this the other day because when I first got saved, you know, I've been to college and you're getting all of the theories that go on there and such like, and there's just opinions, I remember being part of a crowd that said, you have to, excuse me, you have to travel and expand your horizons, you know, they expand your mind, you know, get, I was in Italy when the premier of Italy was kidnapped and people were pushing me off the sidewalk and I was tough and I said to the trees, I said, I don't even like these people. And you had to be there to understand. I said, this is supposed to expand my horizons. I don't like these people, I don't even like being here. But when I got saved, oh God, oh God. I worked radar back in those days. You know, did anybody here know what radar is? You probably, has it ever been stopped? How many have been stopped by police officer for speeding? Come on, let me see your hands. Wow, look at that. You have a whole pile of lawbreakers

in this church pastor, Tim. Well, I have two, so in the confession time I have two. And I'm almost sure pastor Tim has, even though I didn't see his, I don't know if he raised his hand or not. But I would pray for rain because the radar guns we had back then didn't work in the rain and I would pray for rain. And it really rained after I got saved and I would park behind a building and open the Bible and weep and weep and weep. It was washing my mind, my spirit, my soul. I felt God almighty. I've been looking for truth my whole life. And here it is and it was a cleansing washing. It wasn't just, I wasn't just reading, I wasn't just reading words out of a book. of thinking. This book could heal old wounds in my life. This book was opening prison doors and setting me free. This book was character changing, life changing, future changing. This book made me a husband to my wife. This book made me a father to my children. This book made me a different employee. This book changed my heart. This book changed my life. And the Psalmist says in verse 97, "Oh, how I love thy law. It's my meditation all the day. How I love your word, O God." And if you don't love his word, pray. God, give me a love for your word again. Give me a, I don't want to be reading the Bible out of obligation. You understand? It's like somebody, you know, if you, if you fall in love with somebody, say you're not married and they write you a love letter, you're not reading it out of obligation. You understand? You're reading it because you love the words that are written on those pages. And God, the Psalmist says, "Oh, I love your law. It's my meditation all the day." So in other words, I'm not just reading it in the morning. I'm thinking about it throughout the day. It's forming my character. It's changing my pathway of my life. Through your commandments, you make me wiser than my enemies, from they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all

my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts. I've restrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep your word. I've not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth, and through your precepts I get understanding. Therefore, I hate every false weight. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. Oh, how I love the word of God. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray for a love for God's word. Pray, Lord, just deliver me from reading up several passages of scripture in the morning because I have to. God, give me back my first love, as you told Ephesus. I loved reading your word, and I don't want to just read it now out of obligation. You understand what I'm saying? I want to see deeper depths, even in verses that I've read a hundred times before. It doesn't matter. Your word is inexhaustible. I personally believe I could preach on John 3.16 for the rest of my life. I never touch the bottom of that one verse of scripture. For God so loved the world I could never get to the bottom of that. God helped me and God strengthened me. Then he goes on, the writer of Proverbs says in verse 14 and 15, "Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn away from it and pass on. Don't go there." You see, when you begin to read truth and embrace it, you begin to know what untruth is, and there might be a temptation to go on to that path. There might be a temptation to engage in some of those conversations, but the writer says, "Avoid it." God says, "Don't travel on it. Turn away. Pass on." Verse 23 says, "Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it, spring the issues of life. Put away a deceitful mouth, and perverse lips put far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet and let your ways be established. Do not turn to the writer to the left. Remove your foot from evil." And I find it interesting that in the discourse today, everybody is saying the battle is between right and left now. No, it's not. The battle is between good and evil. The battle is between God and Satan. The battle is between eternal life and eternal damnation and hell. The battle is a spiritual battle. It is not a political battle. It never was. Yes, it manifests itself in different ways, but let's not look to the left and to the right to solve what we're facing now. We need a spiritual awakening in this nation. That's the only thing that's going to make a difference. The spiritual awakening starts in me. The spiritual awakening starts in you. When we become reawakened to the truth of God, we make the determination of walking that truth,

and our lives become a walking journal of the presence of God. When we walk into a room, things change. The presence of God walks in with us. I am not interested in being an argument in this generation. I'm not interested in debate. What I am interested in is that when I walk on to a college campus, God walks on is not mine. It's the hands of the Holy Spirit resident within this earthly body. When I feel moved upon to exercise a spiritual gift or do something that God calls me to do, I do it because my heart's desire is that Christ be magnified, Christ be glorified, Christ be understood, Christ be loved, Christ be embraced, and the work that He came to do on the cross would be accomplished. I am just absolutely fed up with powerlessness in the name of Jesus in any generation. I want His name to be glorified again in my generation, and it's my prayer every day. Glorify Your Name, Jesus. Glorify Your Name again. I am so sick of hearing the name Jesus Christ used as the curse word in casual television. Even g-rated movies now, they think they freely curse the name of...it's the hallmark of Hollywood now, to curse the name of Jesus at least one time in every movie. The user's name, as a curse, would try doing that with some of the other deities and see what happens to you. Hollywood, you're a pack of cowards. You wouldn't dare. Do not turn to the right hand or the left because God promises you a path that grows brighter as the world around you grows darker. Verse 18, "The path of the justice like shining light, that shines even brighter unto the perfect day." That was the...that was the word that God gave for this church. The light is going to go brighter and farther as the day grows darker. But don't forget, you are the lighthouse keepers. Do you understand? You are the ones that people are going to come in online. Yes, they're coming in to hear Pastor Tim. Thank God for that. But they're also going to see you. If calamity comes, are you still worshiping? Are you wringing your hands? Are you gone down into silence? What are you doing? Because people are going to be looking for how is this church handling the moment that we are now all having to learn to live in. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 to 8 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your past. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and be strength to your bones." "I need health in my flesh and strength in my bones," I'll tell you right now. You know, we sang that song, "Get up, get up, get up from the grave." Well, I like to sing it with the students at our Bible school. But when they do that, get up, get up, part, they all go down on

their hunches. They go down, and then they get up gradually. Well, I joined them in a chapel time one time, and I went down, and I got stuck in the grave. I couldn't get out. And everybody's getting up, and I was there on the floor yelling, "Help me. Somebody help me. Loose me and let me go. Loose me and let me go." Isaiah chapter 60 is a verse of Scripture that applies specifically and firstly to the nation of Israel. But because we are grafted in, I believe it also applies to you and I as the Church, in principle, at least as the Church of Jesus Christ. Prophet Isaiah says these words, "A rise shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." Oh, God, send your glory again. Oh, God, that which represents him, that which is him, that which brings his name to honor, that which is strength that can only come from God, that which is a song that can only be birthed by the Spirit of God. Let the glory of God come again upon his Church enough with the fakery, enough with the just flesh on parade. The glory, the glory, when the glory comes, nobody would dare touch it when the glory of God comes upon his people. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people, and that's where we're at today, deep darkness. But the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. God says, the days are going to be dark, and there's going to be gross darkness. The original King James says, gross darkness will be on the face of the earth in people's hearts. But the Lord will arise upon you, and people will see it and be drawn to God because of it. They will come. In our case, they won't just physically come to this Church, but they will come in online, because I believe that God's going to do something even deeper. We've had some marvelous, But Pastor Tim, the glory of the latter house is greater than the foreman. And the best wine is saved for the end of the wedding feast, not the beginning. That's the pattern of Scripture. We're coming into a day. And yes, I don't know what the day is going to bring, but I know it's going to bring the presence of God. I'm not overly concerned about what's going to go on out there, because the world's going to degenerate as the Scripture says it will. But we have a promise that the glory of God will be our portion.

The glory of God, the glory of God, an inner confidence that can't be taken away from us, a song that is not dependent on whether the choir hits the right note or the band gets it all right or wrong, none of that matters. It's a song that's the birth of God. David said, the Lord, I was sinking and the Lord lifted me out of the mire, and he set my feet upon a rock, in other words, a solid place. And he put a new song in my mouth, "And many shall see it, not hear it." It's a song that can be seen, not necessarily heard. Many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord. They will see that song of confidence. It's in our voices when we walk into the workplace. It's at our dinner tables when we speak to our families. It's in the hallway when we're waiting for the elevator and we have a chance to greet. There's something in our voices that people see. It's this continuous song of confidence and praise and trust in God. That's what the glory of God looks like. The last verse I want to share before I give you an opportunity to respond, which I feel I should, is when Jesus was going to the cross. This was, He was coming to the point where He was about to be betrayed and go to the cross. And He said in John chapter 12, beginning in verse 26, "If anyone serves me, let him follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him, my father will honor. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. And a voice came from heaven saying, "I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again. I have glorified My name, and I will glorify it again. I have carried others who have come before You. I did carry three Hebrew boys into a fire.

I have been. I was with King David, and I could start naming names of saints throughout the ages of stood in the glory of God's come upon them, and God says, "I have glorified My name all the way through history, and I will glorify it again. I will." And you and I are still God's plan A in this generation. We're not plan B, C, D, E, or F. We are still God's plan A. God says, "I have, and I will. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it." And all He requires is an honest heart. All He requires is somebody who says, "God, I want to walk in Your Word, and I want to walk Your way. God, I don't want My voice to be included in those who are filled with evil speech at this time. I want to make a difference. I want to have something to say. I want to have something to sing. I want to walk in a certain way that brings glory to Your name. God looks at You and says, "I have glorified My name, and I will glorify it again." And you don't have to be royal or of noble birth. You don't have to be anything significant. Just a nobody, a nothing like me, just an average person that says, "God, I don't have it all together, but if You'll take what I have, if You'll take the few loaves and fish gods, and if You'll choose to multiply it, I give You My life so that You can be glorified through My life and My generation. I know You'll give Me the power to stand. I know You'll give Me the words to speak. I know that You'll cause My life to make a difference. I don't want to be among those that are turning to the left and turning to the right. I don't want to be among those. I want to be among those that all throughout history have taken the pathway of the cross

and said, "Father, glorify Your name through Me. Transform Me. Change Me. Enable Me. God Almighty. Empower Me. Give Me courage. Give Me conviction. Give me love that's so far "Has everyone else's love is growing cold "because iniquity abouced? "Let my love be on the increase "for this lost generation. "Give me love that casts out fear. "Give me the ability to stand "and be your heart to my generation. "Give me courage to speak what needs to be said, "no matter the threats. "What do I do? "Try to save myself from this hour? "Jesus said no. "For this purpose I came to this hour. "This is why I was sent. "Father, glorify your name." And the same voice came. The same voice that's been speaking to me is speaking to you. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. God send a spiritual awakening to this nation. That's the only reason He let me live.

I know it in my heart. When I went in the operating room, I said, Lord, if I wake up in heaven, and there was a chance, I said, I'm okay with it. But if you let me live, then let me live. Let me glorify you. I don't want to live just so that I can say I got another 10 years out of this body. I want you to make a difference through my life. My prayer has been, you have made a deposit. It's like I'm a bank account, and he's deposited in me for almost 50 years, I guess, now. And my prayer has been, Lord, withdraw your deposit and spend it for your kingdom and for your glory by the grace of Almighty God. I will say to you, timescore church, the best days are just ahead of us now. (audience applauding) The worship team is going to come here eventually. (laughing) And I'd like to give an altar call, and here it is. Father, glorify your name. Glorify your, I give you my life, I give you my future, give you my heart. You will give me your courage, you will give me the love I need for your word and for people, and you'll give me the ability to hear your voice when you say this is the way walk in it. You'll protect me from evil.

You'll help me not to go the laughter to the right of what my life is supposed to be and get involved in conversations that I shouldn't be in. You'll give me the courage not to back away if there are threats that it's going to get hot. Is what it is. Father, glorify your name. God, Almighty, I pray, Lord, Jesus Christ, for everybody in this church today, that nobody would back away because they say I'm too weak or I'm too much of a coward or I'm too compromised. Lord, you're asking us to let you give us the strength you want to give us. And so I'm asking Lord Jesus Christ that you would give courage to everyone of us that are here today to take a stand that needs to be taken now. And to let you bring your own name to glory through us, I ask you, Lord, for absolute transformation at this altar today, that you would literally transform lives. You said, if anyone is in Christ, he or she becomes a new creation. Old things pass away. So I'm asking that at this altar today, old things would pass away and all things, the new things would begin. You're a God of miracles, I know that. You're a God who raises the dead. I don't want to just sing about it, I want to live it. For anybody who's in any place of death,

I pray, God, you raise them up today out of it and bring all of us into life. We're going to stand at this moment and if you'd like to come to this altar and just say, Father, glorify your name through me, would you come, just come? Let's stand, please. Join those that are coming. Move in close. How can he go to either exit, please? ♪ I love ♪ Just make your way down. ♪ I worship him ♪ ♪ I adore you ♪ ♪ Lord, glorify your name ♪ ♪ In all the earth ♪ ♪ Don't count yourself out ♪ ♪ Don't count yourself out ♪ ♪ Lord, glorify your name ♪ ♪ Lord, glorify your name ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [MUSIC] [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Pastor. Can I challenge you with one thing? Pastor Card, I kept thinking of that image of the cross, the cross that goes up. And I think it's so important that we don't allow ourselves to watch churches do it, I've watched Christians do it.

It's like you start this road with Jesus and then somehow people go to the right or the left with Jesus. Instead of keep going up, see this book keeps going straight up to heaven. This book is so important. But what happens is all of a sudden people will go to the right or to the left. I'm a Republican, I'm a Democrat. Folks, I'm going to tell you, that's not going to get you through anything. I'm just going to tell you. You have to let that go and just say, I am a woman of God. I am a man of God. That's what I'm holding on to. So the next time someone asks you where there's going, like a writer left, Republican, Democrat, woman of God, that's what I am. I'm a man of God. I believe in the Word of God, this eternal book, this eternal book. How many know that it's only His truth that's going to get us through? It's His truth. So I thank God for that word today. What a blessing. Thank you. Thank you so much, Pastor Carda. What do I need to hear that? I'm on a whole different, my body is on a whole different time. I told some of our folks, I said, if you see me fall asleep here, I want you to poke me and keep me awake for this today. Because I needed to hear it twice today because God is going to do something special. Here's what I want you to do. Just take the hand of the person next to it. I want you to pray, God use them. Come on, just take a hold of someone's hand.

You don't even have to know who they are. Just go on, start to pray. Say, God use them. God use them. God, I just pray the hand, your hand to rest upon them. Father, we're going to believe for that. We're going to believe that God, no matter what is ahead, Father, your hand is going to begin to rest upon all of us, Lord Jesus. I need it. I need it, Lord God. So Father, we've joined together as a church right here in the heart of New York City. Father, we're not here to play church. We're not playing denomination. We're not playing politics. We will stand on the Word of God. We will stand on the truth of God's Word. Nothing else will fall to the wayside. But Father, as we hold hands with one another, strengthen them, fill them with power, fill them with life. Hand of God, touch them, encourage them that God, that no matter how dark it gets, there is a light that is coming. There is a light that will begin to shine through them. So I thank you, God. You will begin to do that right now. We bless you, we thank you, we praise you. You are good. You are God and you are alive. Now come on, lift those hands and just bless them for a second. Go ahead, praise them for a second. Praise them for a second.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)