Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. Today, I want you to know that your shame can be covered no matter what you've been doing or how you've been behaving. If you're willing to get up and come back, there's a covering for your shame. We're glad you've joined us for a call to the nation with Carter Conlon, pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. Carter has a message for you titled, Pushing Back This Present Darkness.
We are not helpless in the face of spiritual darkness. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. We join Carter now for some much-needed encouragement. Uh Acts chapter 2.
Now I want you to keep in mind the context of this particular verse of scripture. That generation had just put Jesus Christ to death. They were not in the mood for him. They were not in the mood for his followers. There'd be a lot of people that have gone back to religion as usual.
They've they've more or less wiped their hands clean. Of this man. There's a debate, I guess, whether or not he was a deceiver or a good man. We're at the point, probably, where. A great deal of the people don't really care.
They're just glad to be rid of the controversy. And of course that has repeated itself again and again throughout history. God found at this time 120 people. Ordinary people like you and I. Who just said, Lord, I want to make a difference.
And this encroaching darkness that it doesn't get any darker. They've just killed the Son of God. I mean, can it get any darker than that? in any society at any time. And there's a bloodlust among the people, and they're in no mood to endure his followers.
And of course that repeats itself again. in our day. They gathered together and they began to pray. Verse 1 says, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, They were all with one accord. in one place.
There was no strong there, no mighty. nor royal, nor noble of birth. They all knew that without the power of God they were going nowhere. They knew they were insufficient. Many in that room had made great promises to God, but they were unable to keep them.
Peter, for example, had promised that he would die. with the Lord Jesus Christ, yet when his turn came For his words to be put to the test, he cursed himself with an oath, saying, I don't know the man. But they were in that one place and saying, God. We believe that we're set apart to be a testimony for you and the earth, and you promised to give us power to become that testimony.
So we throw our lives in. To this purpose on the earth, and we recognize that without your power, none of this is going to happen. But you promised power. You told us that if we would tarry, if we would pray, if we would seek you. if we would find ourselves in one accord with you and with one another.
In other words, if we would be back in unity with the purposes of God, the thoughts of God, and we would recognize the importance of unity with one another. that you would meet us there and make us a testimony. And suddenly, verse 2, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and sat upon each of them.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem. Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused. because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, look, Are not all these who speak Galileans? How is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes. Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt. and parts of Libya.
Adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works. of God. Verse 38. Then Peter said to them, Repent. That means Turn from trying to do things your own way.
Turn from your own thoughts, turn from your own reasonings, turn from your own practices. And let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Turn to God. With all your heart. And be willing to be immersed in God.
May I put it that way? Call out to him and say, Lord, I want all of you and none of me. I want to be literally immersed. I want this temple. that you call the temple of the Holy Spirit to be filled with light.
Filled with your love, filled with your wisdom, filled with your power, filled with your purpose. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
So that Verses scripture includes us today here in New York City. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this. perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day. About three.
Thousand souls. were added to them.
Now the history of man's relationship with God began with a perfect unity. Almighty God governed, and humankind moved in perfect unity with his will. That's the way it was in the beginning. When God created Adam and Eve, and he would come down in the garden in the cool of the day. There was a cooperation.
God set the boundaries. Adam and Eve walked inside of those boundaries. And there was wonderment. At that time, there was a fellowship between God and man. And God's word says that everything that God created, everything He did, He looked upon it and said, It is good.
Can you just imagine being there? at this time. But Almighty God had an avowed sworn enemy who hated him, hated the fact that. He was exalted less. Than God was.
And he was described in Genesis chapter 3 as a cunning serpent. Not only hating God, but hating... Mankind created in the image of God. Given a mind, given a heart, given a spirit. Given the power to reason.
The ability to say yes, the ability to say no. And he came down in that garden with a seething hatred in his heart. for humankind, created in the image of God. With a purpose Jesus said in John 10 10 He came to steal. To kill.
And to destroy. That was his purpose. That was his mission. In the garden. That's what the devil is here for.
That's what he does. Thank God, one day he's going to be bound. and thrown into a bottomless pit forever. But in order to accomplish his purpose He knew he would have to separate that bond of unity between God and man. And to ruin you.
to bring you and I into spiritual rule and to render our lives ineffective. And actually, to have us partakers of evil, all he has to do is to separate you. From God. To bring about a disunity. Oh, you can even go to church.
But you can be separated from God. You can study the Bible and be separated from God. Just to destroy that unity. And this he did in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 5. He convinced the first man and the first woman.
That they could ignore the boundaries which God had set around them and determine by themselves what were acceptable standards of right and wrong.
So exactly how he broke the unity between Adam, Eve, and God. You don't have to live inside of God's rules. You are made in the image of God, therefore you can determine in yourself. You can be a judge of what is right and a judge of what is wrong in yourself and doing this, no harm. will come to you.
And he succeeded in breaking that unity. in the garden. And in Genesis 3, 7, the first thing that is introduced into the world, when that unity is broken, is an awareness and a preoccupation with nakedness. They had a covering of God in the garden. And when humankind sinned against God, the first thing they knew is that they were naked.
And thus, we have the introduction. with the preoccupation of nakedness and by extension The origin of sexual sin. And who can debate that sexual sin doesn't plague the this and every generation before it. This preoccupation with nakedness that has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry called pornography. All of these things that have come just from the separation, in a sense, from God, the disunity from God.
In the very next chapter, we see the introduction of envy, hatred, and murder. Remember, the thief came to what? Steal? kill and destroy.
Now, Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain and Abel, the next. Thing you see is one son sacrifice is accepted with God and the other ones isn't. And Cain, a seething envy. In his heart, he got a hold of him, a hatred for his brother, and subsequently.
He actually murdered his brother without conscience. When the Lord came to him and said, Where's your brother? And he said, How do I know? Am I my brother's keeper? There's just a nonchalance.
You know, humankind can start to murder without conscience, folks. That's what separation from God produces. Jesus said to the religious around him in John chapter 8 verse 44. Who claimed to be the children of Abraham? He said, No, you are of your father the devil.
And the desires of your father you want to do, for he was a murderer from the beginning. You want your own way, you want your own rules, you want no boundaries, and you will kill to get it. That's exactly what happened. It's why they killed the Son of God, even in the name of God. of religion.
This was the beginning of mankind wanting his and her own way up to the point of taking the life. of anyone who got in the way of their objectives. And do we have a more glaring example? Then the recent law that was just passed in New York State on abortion. Not only passing the law, but looking at our state legislators and the people around, literally patting each other on the back and smiling as they sign a law.
of slaughter. Of the innocence and lighting up a building here in New York City, sticking your finger in the eye of God, daring God to judge the city, might I add. Oh folks, there's a line you can't cross. God himself said, You enter into the fields of the fatherless, I will rise and defend them. And remember, remember.
The scripture says, do not be deceived. Whatever you sow, you're going to reap. And there are three immutable laws of the harvest. You sow what you reap, you sow it later than you reaped it, and you sow more. Then you reaped.
A license to murder. For convenience's sake in many cases. Not all, I understand that. But in many cases, just a license to murder. Unthinkable.
unfathomable that a society could become so barbaric After signing this ungodly law, they should have hidden their closets and. In shame. Instead of lighting up a building here and celebrating murder. You know, we read in the Old Testament about the abomination of the nations, Moloch, how they took their children and they put them on this red-hot idol.
Well, tell me what makes us any different now in this generation? How do we claim any moral ground? I mean, every society that starts to distance itself from God and moves into the utter depravity starts to sacrifice their children in the name of convenience. Yes, we are. Not too far down the road in Genesis chapter 11.
People at this time were still able to communicate with one another, but they decided to build a tower. You see, and They're still moving on this quest to be as God is without God. And they ended up in their pride losing the ability to communicate with each other. You can check it out yourself in Genesis chapter 11. They said, let's make a tower.
Up into the heavens. It speaks of humanity trying to be God in itself, because that was the sin. that they embrace, we can be God. We can be as God is.
So let's build a tower to prove to the whole world that we are godly. We can get into the heavens by our own strength. The Lord came down. And we see the introduction of another consequence. Of being disunified with God, a level of division among people.
Got into this world where suddenly they couldn't communicate with one another. And let's take a look at our society today. We see a preoccupation with nakedness and sexual sin. We see envy, hatred, murder, division, evil speech. Lying has become the order of the day.
Now we see the killing of innocents. coming our way and Don't anybody try to suggest there's any ability to communicate anymore. We see division coming into our society on almost every level. And so The question arises. Who is behind the obvious degenerating social condition of our day?
I don't care what people call themselves. It's not flesh and blood we're fighting against. Do you understand? We're fighting spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. The people who are signing these laws are just unwitting dupes.
That's all they are. They're being influenced by powers of darkness. They have no defense because they're not in relationship with God.
So they're open to the suggestions of evil. And they're simply ponds of darkness. That's all they are. I feel nothing but sorry for them. There's a day coming.
Everybody around that desk signing this ungodly law is going to stand at the throne of God one day and answer for what they have done. And so the question arises: what can you and I do about this?
Now there's three things I want to talk about in just a few moments. Number one. Recognize that the cross is God's invitation for you and I to come back to Him again. In the garden, when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Bible tells us God said, Now lest Humankind, mankind, men and woman, unless they touch the tree of life and eat of it and live forever. They have to be banished from the garden.
And so the scripture says they lost access to eternal life in God. At that point, they lost access to the favor. The promise of God. The hope of God. Everything of God was lost.
Death began to reign. But at the cross It's no coincidence that Jesus was crucified on a tree. Do you understand? The cross is the tree of life regained. The cross is that opportunity to come back to God.
Remember, Jesus Himself said, Lest you, what, eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. The cross is the tree of life regained. Everyone who wants to come to him now can. The way has been made back to God, back to unity with God, back to life in God. Just like in Luke 15 with the prodigal son.
Who recognized he'd been far away from his father? There's a voice of God. Calling us as the people of God back home to Him again. My son, my daughter, get up, you can come home. Bring, just come as you are.
Come with your shame. Come with your trials. Come with whatever, even with murder in your heart, whatever is going on in your life. Just get up and come home. And as he met his father, he found life.
He found a covering for his shame. Today, I want you to know that your shame can be covered no matter what you've been doing or how you've been behaving. If you're willing to get up and come back and live God's way, there's a covering for your shame. There's a hope for your future. There's life that God offers you.
The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, John 10, 10. But the second half of that verse says, but I have come that they may have life. and that they may have it more abundantly. Life, life that can only come from God. Life that can't be found anywhere else.
But in Christ. Life that is offered us at the cross where we can go and say, God, I don't have the love I need for this generation. And there's a tree there. And on that tree... A victory was won.
Captivity was taken captive and gifts were given unto men. And God says, no, you don't, but partake of me. I have all the love you will ever need. To love the unlovable and make a difference in your time. Ephesians 4.8 says, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
Jesus himself In Mark chapter 3, verse 27, he said, No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his goods. I want you to know. That when he was crucified and when he was buried and when he rose from the dead, the scripture says when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive. and gave gifts unto men. Oh, the depth of the triumph of God on that cross.
Oh, the depth of the mercy of God. Oh, the invitation of God back into his presence again, back into the purpose for our lives. Oh, this incredible mercy of God. That is available to you. To me.
He says, If you open the door to your heart, Your house as it is. I've already Bound the strong man. I've already. Taken captivity captive. I've already stepped on the head of the devil.
I've already destroyed his power and his works. He's defeated. It's finished. The victory is won. We're more than conquerors now through Christ who loves us.
Now he says, invite me in and let me plunder your house. Let me plunder the things that This unity from God implanted in your heart. The preoccupation with nakedness, the envy, the murder, the deceit, the lies. The duplicity. Stepping on other people for a personal advantage, whatever it is that's gotten into your heart.
Lord says, let me come in and let me plunder it. Not by might, not by power, not yours. Not your might, not your wisdom, not your power, but by my spirit, says the Lord, let me come in. And let the temple become mine. And that's got to be your prayer because it's mine now.
Oh, God, you know every corner of this physical temple. You know everything that's in my mind. You know everything that's in my heart. You know my future. You know the days ahead of me.
My God. My God. Plunder this temple of everything of hell. everything that was sown in this human body because of sin that got into the human race. And we've all inherited it by nature.
So let your captivity be taken captive. Come back. with a desire to walk in unity with God. and come back to unity both with God and with each other. Pray.
that your life might make a difference and watch what God will do. It's an amazing thing because you remember When they built the tower, and tried to be God in a sense in themselves. The end result is that they were confounded. and couldn't communicate with each other any longer. Their speech was confounded.
They lost the ability. to communicate and relate. But what happened in Acts chapter 2? When there's a recognition. That Christ is the only way to heaven.
The power of God is the only power that exists. to live a victorious Saved an abundant life. Suddenly, God comes. and fills the whole house. Oh God.
Oh God, I want to tell you something. This generation needs you. This generation needs a church again. Enough games, enough religion. Enough goofiness in the name of God in his house.
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to do it God's way, for God's reasons, and for God's purpose.
Now, you remember what happened when they tried to be God in themselves? They lost the ability to communicate.
Now what happens when God fills the temple? And there's a recognition, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit. What's the immediate First evidence fruit. They now, what was lost at the Tower of Babel is now regained. I hope you see it in the scriptures.
They now have the ability to communicate again. With other people of other cultures, of other tongues. They see that this unity starts to be broken and unity starts coming back together in God. And suddenly, you find yourself with a desire and a divine ability to speak to people that you've never been able to speak to before. You're suddenly communicating.
You're communicating by the power of God. You find yourself in foreign fields. You find yourself in places, neighborhoods that you're not familiar with. And you find yourself speaking. You find the people standing in wonder and say, How does this person get the power to do what they're doing?
That's what happened when David Wilkerson in 1958 came in to some of the worst areas of New York City and started as a skinny Pennsylvania white preacher speaking to. black and Latino gangs. And he had nothing in common with them. And they're wondering why, how is it that these man's words, these man's words, are touching my heart the way they are? A sudden ability by the Holy Spirit, an enablement by God to go where we've not gone before, to speak to people we couldn't speak to before.
Suddenly, this inability to communicate because of sin is destroyed, and we come back together, and there's a compassion that's birthed of God in the heart of every man, every woman, every child. And God gives us the ability to speak. where we haven't had the ability to do it before. Peter said, Turn from your sin. Put on Christ.
Turn from your sin. Put on Christ. Turn from your sin. Turn from trying to be God. Turn from trying to be a judge of what is good and what is evil.
Turn from the folly. and the foolishness of your own reasoning. Get back in the word of God. Turn and put on Christ. Put on God's purpose for your life.
Put on God's plan for your life. Put on God's calling for your life. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The message today has been brought to you by Carter Conlon, pastor of Times Square Church. For more information, log on to tscnyc.org.
That's tscnyc.org. Plan to be with us next week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon. Um
