Welcome, and thank you so very much for joining Carter Conlon for his New Year special, Wishing for the Old in the Face of the New Year. Let's join Carter in Studio Now. This is Carter Conlon. I want to welcome you to. This wonderful new year.
And today I want to speak to you about. the error, I guess, of wishing for the old in the face of the New Year. I'll get around to what that's all about in just a moment. But first, let's pray. Father, I just thank you, Lord, for those that are listening today.
as we are entering into what could be a very volatile time in the history of of this nation, the history of our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to bring comfort, vision, Purpose? an understanding of really how do we fit. in such a tumultuous time as as this day we're living in. Give me the right words to speak.
and calm our fearful hearts. And Father, I thank you for this and I praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's start today in Acts chapter 27 and verse 29. The Scripture says, Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, They dropped four anchors out of the stern, and the And prayed for a day to come.
And so here's a. A group of people on a journey that they have been warned not to take. You know, I think of the journey we've taken as a society when God's word comes. Clearly warns that there are consequences to doing the things we're doing, to abandoning, in a sense, the age-old values that made us the people that we are and gave us the safety we've known. And that's what they did.
and abandoning the word of God that told them not to take this journey, they ended up In a storm of epic proportions, a storm so deep.
so powerful that they did everything they knew to do. To try to bring about a resolution, even throwing overboard their tackling, which is proven things that had gotten them on. From place to place for years and years and years, as it has been, in a sense, for our society as well. They started throwing these things overboard. And then, as a last resort, they threw four, not one anchored, four out of the stern, hoping to slow down.
this this journey that they were on that they they knew instinctively was going to end up on the rocks. and they began to pray For a day to come. In other words, they began to pray for what had already Gone by to come back again. It's a type of somebody that says, oh, if only we could be like we were in 1955 again, or 60 or 70 or 80 or 90, whatever the best years. of of our particular society that that you think We've gone through.
And you begin to look to the past and say, oh, if only we could relive that again. That's exactly what. a lot of these people were doing.
Now in the midst of them In this incredible storm, the safety of the people on this journey was dependent on one man not losing heart. I want you to think about that for a moment. Whose safety is dependent on you right now, not losing heart? Who's looking to you as a believer in Jesus Christ if you've professed to be so? And you're in a neighborhood, you're in a family, you're in a marketplace, wherever you are.
And The people believing that you represent God are are really hanging by a thread, hoping for the day. And if you lose heart, then there really is no hope for the people that are traveling on this journey with you. And you think of the Apostle Paul down in the belly of that ship and what would have been going on there. He was taken captive as a prisoner. He was being falsely accused.
It was obviously not a very comfortable situation. And it would have been easy for him to lose heart. It would have been easy for him to take on the spirit of those around him, maybe who were crying out for justice and vengeance as they saw it. Or if I get my way, I'm going to get my. my dose of vengeance on those that have caused me this pain, etc.
etc. It would have been So easy being engrossed. in in that kind of an environment to actually lose heart, lose sight in a sense. of the fact that God may have a purpose in all of this. That's richer, that's deeper, that's fuller, that's more powerful than anything we've.
we've ever even started to consider.
Now, Scripture tells us or bears witness that he didn't lose heart because when the time came, He had a word of comfort and safety for those who were craving it. as well as a thankful heart towards the God who answers prayer, and enables us never to lose heart. In the book of Galatians, In chapter six, verse nine. Paul says, let us not grow weary. while doing good.
For in due season we shall reap. if we do not lose heart. And you think of of Paul stepping out on to the deck of this ship as it's about to break apart. And he has it in his heart. Two things.
Number one, he's get a word from God. I've heard from God, he says, and if you will listen to me, All of you will be safe.
Now, that's something you and I are going to have to have. In the days ahead. And then he did something so incredibly powerful. The scripture says he took bread and he broke it and gave thanks to God. Can you imagine?
He's on the deck of this ship. It's going down. It's breaking apart. Everybody knows this ship is not going to survive. This journey.
And here is one man standing on the deck of this ship, and he's. Breaking bread, and he's giving thanks. To Almighty God, You know, so the people would be looking at him and saying, well, what's this man giving thanks for? I mean, he's on this journey with us. He's going into the drink as well as we are.
He's in peril as much as we are. But so, what's he so thankful about?
Now, they would not realize that Paul was. be giving thanks because the divine purpose of God was being realized through his life and he knew That the salvation of these people was at least physically saving them for the initial part of this journey was part of the divine mandate of God through his life. While he lived on the earth, Paul is a thankful man. Thank you, Lord, that I'm here in the midst of this disaster. Uh, not to preserve myself, but I've been placed here for the sake of others.
I don't know if you. Can see life that way. You're in the home you're in, the marriage you're in, the family you're in, the house you're in, the neighborhood you're in, the city you're in, the town you're in, for a divine reason. There's a season coming when people around you are going to lose heart and they're going to look to you, they're going to suddenly turn. And as the Apostle Peter once told us, be ready.
To give an answer to those who ask you for a reason for the hope that is within you. In other words, they're turning and saying, well, why do you still have a smile on your face? Don't you know what's going on? Don't you realize our society is unraveling around us? Don't you know that we're about to go bankrupt as a nation?
Don't you know that we're losing our strength, our status, we're losing our influence, we're losing our very fabric and structure of our society is now falling apart? Are you not aware of this? And Paul could look, as you can, to the people and say, no, I'm aware of something higher. I'm aware of something bigger. I'm aware of something that's eternal.
I'm aware of the fact that God put me right where I am. For your sake. The whole The whole reason for the Christian life is not just about self-preservation, for Jesus himself said, If any one will follow after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me.
So it's really: I am walking in the footsteps of the one who gave his life. I'm walking in the footsteps of the one who saw me. In my sin and in my condition, I am And he came down to get me, and gave himself for me, even to the pouring out of the last ounce of blood and water in his body, He gave himself for me. And what a privilege it is to walk in those footsteps in our generation.
Now, Paul, after they landed, they miraculously, literally miraculously, all got to shore. When they got to shore, it was a very foreboding place. It was unfamiliar. I personally believe that America as we have known it is going to become an unfamiliar place. in our time.
It's happening right now. and it's going to increase in the days ahead. It was cold there. It was raining there. It was not pleasant there.
It was unfamiliar there. But they all got to safety in this place.
Now, this was part of the plan of God, my friend. because God still had a man in the midst. that was going to lead them to an understanding of who he is, and through whom he was going to demonstrate his power. This is what I personally believe. We are going to see the power of God.
in demonstration one more time before Jesus comes. And yes, it's going to be through you. It's going to be through the average person that just makes a choice in their heart and says, God, I'm going with you. I'm going to go where I go for you. I'm going to live for your purposes.
And I'm not content to have people die around me when I have eternal life and I have the message of eternal life.
So Lord, I'm asking you right now. to give me the strength that I need. to do the work that you've called me to do. And so they escaped safely to land. And when they got to this island in Acts chapter 28, they kindled a fire because the rain was falling and because it was cold.
So they started just doing the basics. We've got to get warm. And Paul went out and started gathering a bundle of sticks to lay them on the fire when a snake came out. and of the heat, and fastened onto his hand.
Now this this was a poisonous snake. And the people of the local area knew that if you got bit by this snake, you were doomed. There's a snake in Africa I was told about that they call it they call the three-step. They say if it bites you, you got about three steps left before you die. That's the local lore in a certain part of Africa that I was ministering in one time.
So this was one of those three-step snakes, may I put it that way? They just they watched. and waited for him to die. And so They saw it hanging from his hand and they determined that this man is doomed. And justice has not allowed him to live.
But then in verse 5 of Acts 28, the scripture says, he shook off the creature. Into the fire. and he suffered no harm. when they expected that he should swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But then they looked and they saw they saw no harm, then they changed their minds about this particular man called Paul.
Now It was Paul was a man who could not be poisoned by the circumstances around him. Folks, I want to encourage you: the vitriol that's out there now, the evil speech, the political discourse, all of the stuff that's going on right now, it can actually poison you as a believer in Jesus Christ. You can start speaking things and doing things that you shouldn't be doing with an attitude that is not intended. To be embraced by the people of God, you are on the earth for a higher purpose. than these things that they're talking about.
You are there for the salvation of the lost. You are there to make a difference in your environment, whatever that environment is. is at the time.
So Paul escapes. The first thing you see his hand doing is breaking bread.
Well, the first thing he's doing is pointing and giving people direction. The second thing he's breaking bread with the same hands and giving thanks to God. The third thing that happens, the snake bites and it can't kill him. The next thing you see happen is healing starts flowing through his hands. In that same region it says there was an estate of the leading citizen on the island.
who received us and entertained us courteously for three days, Verse 8 of Acts 28 says, It happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went into him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.
So that when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases. also came and were healed.
So here's a man who had every right to be bitter. He had every right, in the sense as we see it, to say, God, why me? Why this place? Why this journey? Why this story?
Am I not your servant? Am I not serving you? Do I not love you, Lord? Is there no protection for me in all of this? Do I have to endure this?
Can can you not at least in this storm give me a more comfortable place to live? But yet, He could not be poisoned by any circumstance because he had a higher purpose and a higher calling. On his life, and it was through that hand of that man that healing began to come. To everybody around. He said he healed them all.
Everybody who came and had diseases were healed. Isn't that an amazing thing? I do believe that if you and I make the right choices now, God is going to extend his hand through us as believers in Jesus Christ. And it's not always just a physical healing, as powerful and wonderful as that is. But people's minds can be healed, people's marriages can be healed, people's Uh their confusion can be brought.
Into a place of healing and light. If we will let the power of God. flow through our lives.
Now this brings me to the point of where I opened. and the point of the title. I gave you wishing for the old. in the face of the new year. Ecclesiastes seven ten written by Solomon, he says these words Do not say That's Ecclesiastes 7.10.
Do not say I Why were the former days better than these? For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. Amazing. In other words, do not look back. hoping for yesterday.
Don't compare today with yesterday. Don't stay there. If that's your only focus, you can miss the miracle of what God is desiring to do today and tomorrow. You can lose it. You can lose sight that this has been the plan of God all along.
This was about bringing these 275 people on this ship to a point of considering their eternity. This was about an island with a village that had never heard about God suddenly seeing his power. And I don't know how many came to Christ, but I'm assuming because of Paul that probably many did because they saw the power of God. If you're looking to the past, if, for example, in our present society, you're saying, oh, God, if we could only be like it was in the 70s or the 80s in America or the 90s even or the early 2000s, and you're looking back and you're longing. For the past.
You're missing the New Year. In other words, your New Year is not going to be happy because your focus is on the past. If you can look away from the past and say, God, what do you have that's new for this year? What do you have that's new in my life that you want to do? that I've not considered before, I've not seen before, you've not done through me before.
God Almighty, Would you give me a vision for tomorrow? Would you give me a vision for the year 2025? What do you want to do through my life?
So I'm not just sitting here mourning, as everybody else is, for the way things used to be. I don't want to sit here wishing for the old. When a new year with new power, new promises, a new direction. New victories are right before me. I don't want to miss them because I'm sitting here looking at the old and wishing for the old.
That's really the point I feel that the Holy Spirit has given me. To give to you today, God's got something for your future that is way beyond anything you've ever thought. That it's so important now to stay alive in Christ. Stay alive in Christ and as Paul did, pray about God. What do you have for my future?
That's where it all started. In the belly of that ship, he started to pray, God, what do you have for my future? That's when the Lord sent a message to him and said, You are on a journey that I prescribed for you, and you're going to finish your course. That's how he knew he wasn't going to drown. And then the Lord said, And I'm giving you the people traveling with you.
The people in proximity to you, the people over whom your life has. The potential to have to make a difference. I'm giving them to you because you're willing to take this journey with me. That's how to stay alive in Christ. And to stand on the deck of a sinking ship and start giving thanks to God and saying, God, thank you.
Thank you, Lord, that you sent me into the storm for their sakes, not for mine, for their sakes. These people would have drowned if I wasn't on this ship. They would have no hope. The sea would have claimed all of their lives, and they would be eternally in a place of torment. Thank you, God, for having me here.
And then Paul not only had that, he had a fresh vision for the future. He knew what he was called to do, and he knew his life was going to make a difference. Along the way.
So pray today. for your life and pray. for God to breathe a testimony into you that will begin to direct others to Christ in this season of storms. That's what we are living right now. We're in a season of storms and it's an error to look to the past.
longingly because if you do, if that's all you do, you're going to miss the future. There's a song I sang on the C D called Day by Day. quite a few years ago. And it's a song that I just absolutely love. It's called Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.
And the story behind the song is the lighthouse in a particular part of America, it would call people into the harbor in the midst of a storm. but there were lower lights that showed the way into the channel, into the harbour of safety. And one night, which looked to be a clear night, the harbor master neglected to light the lower lights. And so a storm arose in the middle of the night, and a ship. Like the one we're talking about in Acts 27, trying to make the harbor.
because the sailors saw the lighthouse. But the lower lights weren't lit. They didn't see the way in. They couldn't see the channel.
So they took a chance. And they missed it. And they went upon the rocks and they all drowned. And they all drowned because one man just didn't do what he knew to do. Stay alive, my friend, in Christ.
Thank God. that you are where you are. Stop looking to get out and get to another place. Just thank God that you're in the will of God. Let your life be.
Be a light. to those who are trying to find their way through to safety in Christ. And this will be. I promise you. This will be.
perhaps the happiest New Year of your entire life. God bless you. Brightly beams our Father's mercy from his light. House evermore, but to us he gives the keeping of the lights along. On the shore, let the Lord.
Let's be burning sandy. Please Across the way Some poor fainting struggling seamen You may rescue, you may save dark the night of sin, loud the angel. Billows roll eager songs. Are waiting, watching. For the line.
Alone On the show. Let alone. Your light be burning. Send the Please. Rocks away.
Some poor, fainting, struggling seaman. You may rescue You may say. Trim your feet. E-ball. My brother Some poor sage.
Or tempestar is tight. Trying now. To read. the harbor. In the darkness, may be lost.
Lost here. Lights be burning. Sand agle across the way Self for faith take struggling seamen You may rescue. You may say. Let the Lord lights be burning Send the gleam across the waves of poor faith struggling since You may rescue.
You Maybe. Kindly be Our Father's mercy. From his lighthouse Evermore. But to us He gives the keeping Are the lights? Along this road.
Thank you so much for joining Carter Conlon for this year's New Year special, Wishing for the Old in the Face of the New Year. For more specials like this one, visit www.carterconlon.com. In addition, to listen to more of Carter's music, including Let the Lower Lights Be Burning from his album Day by Day, also visit his website CarterConlon.com or find it on your streaming platform of choice. Happy New Year.
