Darkness Has Crossed a Line

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. If darkness has crossed a line, in your life. If darkness has come in and said, you'll never get out of that prison, you'll never be healed of that wound, you'll never be used of God. then darkness has crossed a line in your life. Because that's not what God said about you.

and you don't have to give in to it. We're so glad you've joined us this week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon. In the scriptures, we learn that God has established all the boundaries in the universe. And in Luke chapter 4, After being tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus tells the devil, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. You'll discover in this week's message, Carter believes that darkness has crossed a line over God's set boundaries, and the lie persists that there will be no consequences in doing so.

Let's join Carter now to learn more. Uh Luke chapter 4. Jesus is looking into the face of the devil. He's been tempted of him in the wilderness, and it's a face-to-face confrontation. And in this Particular portion I'm about to look at, this statement of verse 12 in particular.

Satan has challenged The reliability of the Word of God. He's always had a problem with that. From the moment he set his judgment above the word of God in heaven. And the thought entered his mind, which he subsequently sowed into humanity in the Garden of Eden. That the Word of God, God does not fully mean what He says.

And God's word can be bent, twisted, The borders of it can be stretched. And there won't be consequence. And in the darkness of his mind, this is what he believes, and this is exactly what he sowed into humankind, that somehow we can cross the borders of God's word and there are no consequences to it.

Now Satan came to Jesus. And he said, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down, verse 9 from the pinnacle of the temple. For it is written, He will give His angels charge over thee to keep thee. And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering and said to him, I can see this if this was a If we had a video of this, I think I think Jesus raised his head, and Satan knew he's looking now at the line of the tribe of Judah.

There's a place that you simply don't cross and he was crossing it again. And he said, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. In other words, Satan don't put God to a test because what he said he will do, that's exactly what he will do. He is not a man, he doesn't lie, he doesn't stretch, he's not saying things just for effect. Every word he speaks, that's exactly what he will do.

Scripture bears witness that God Himself is the one who establishes all the boundaries in this universe. For example, in Psalm 104, verse 9, The scripture says, Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.

Now, the previous verses tell us that. The waters were once allowed to cover even the mountains of this world. Waters came as a judgment. But even they have been given boundaries by God, and God said, You are no longer allowed to pass these boundaries. You can no longer judge the world.

And even nature itself must obey the word of God. There are boundaries set before humankind which when crossed, will bring about the direct intervention of God. For example, in Genesis chapter 11, man tried to break away from the acknowledgement of God and he tried to determine his own destiny. And future through the pride of organization, accomplishment, and unity, and built a tower. to get a reputation and a name.

But God responded by confounding mankind. And affecting their ability to communicate and to relate with each other, thus scattering their objectives. You see Humanity had one more time crossed a line. Because Exodus chapter 20 and verse 3 God said to his own people Israel. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

And when man attempts to be a god, He has crossed the line. And is going to bring about scattering, confusion. and all kinds of tragedy. that comes because of these things.

Now the book of Proverbs Back in the Old Testament, Chapter 23. Verses 10 and 11. The Lord says these words. He said, Remove not. The old land bart.

In other words, don't move the boundaries. That I have said. And don't enter into the fields of the fatherless. For the Redeemer is mighty. and he shall plead their cause with thee.

In other words, God said, don't cross over to cause or to allow harm. to those who have no fathers. Or to those whose fathers have lost the ability to protect them. God warned, He said, I've set a boundary. Will you cross that boundary?

And there will be consequences.

Now even knowing this, Satan cannot stay within his boundaries. His darkened thinking continually leads him to believe that he can cross these boundaries without any consequence. For example, Exodus chapter 1 verse 22.

Now I'm talking about kings and societies that are now controlled by this Prince of Darkness. The seed of the logic of Satan is in fallen humanity, so they become technically puppets to darkness. I don't know if you realize it. But there is a war going on around us all the time that is not something you can see with your eyes. There's a spiritual warfare.

That's why Paul says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. The casting down of imaginations, things that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. Pharaoh judged his people. He saw the people of God were more. And mightier than the people.

of Egypt. And he charged his people, saying, Every son that is born, you shall cast into the river.

Now, remember. There's a boundary, God said. When you enter into the fields of the fatherless, The Redeemer is mighty. And he will rise up and plead for them.

Now, God responds to this by taking one of those sons and appointing him to be the deliverer of God's people. His name was Moses. Even though Pharaoh consistently mocked God's ability to perform his word. And that's what Satan will do. That's what fallen mankind will do, this constant mockery.

God is powerless. God has no ability to deliver. God speaks, but he won't do. Exodus 13. Verses 21 to 22 tells us that God Himself came to His own people as a pillar.

And he manifested himself As a pillar of fire at night, to lead them through the darkness which would want to surround them and to make them afraid. Remember the sequence. The moving against children. The mockery of God and His ability to deliver. And then God coming as a pillar of fire.

A cloud by day and a fire by night.

So remember that sequence. History repeats itself. In Matthew chapter 2, we see the fields of the fatherless again being transgressed. The people are under the oppression and suppression of the Roman Empire. They've come in and they're dominating the whole known world with their viewpoint on everything.

They are marginally but growing increasingly intolerant. Of anybody else's thoughts about the way order should be. and the way society should think, because they're a dominant force coming in. And they're suppressing the people. Once they gained the upper hand, In Matthew 2.16, it says, Herod ordered all the male children, two and under, to be killed in Bethlehem.

Fearing, in a sense, that somebody should rise up to challenge his authority, became ruthless. And what did he do? He went into the fields of the fatherless. One more time. Remember the scripture tells us The Redeemer is mighty, and he'll plead their cause with thee.

The power of God to deliver was soon going to be marked. Matthew 27, verses 36 to 43. Speaking of Jesus Christ on the cross. It says, sitting down, they watched him there. Verse thirty-seven.

of Matthew 27. And they set up over his head his accusation, written, This is Jesus. The king of the Jews.

Now keep in mind. The whole scene was a mockery. There were with him two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left.

Okay. And they passed by and reviled him, wagging their heads. and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and builds it in three days. Save yourself. If you be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Likewise, also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and the elders said he saved himself. Saved others or himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him.

For he said, I am the son of God.

Now keep in mind, a dominant force has come in. Moved into the fields of the fatherless. mocking again the delivering power of Christ. And God responds. By raising his Son from the dead on the third day.

And coming to those who had gathered to pray, In Acts chapter 2, verse 3, it says, There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. One more time. God comes. And touches them with fire. It comes with the fire of his presence.

Comes and makes the people more than we could ever hope to be. in ourselves. All you and I can be in our own strength is a fearful group of people. We'll meet in an upper room somewhere. And pray that things will change, and hope that things will change.

Without God, that's as deep as it'll ever get. And walk into the marketplace with simply just an argument about why the things that are happening are wrong, but no power to affect any change. But I want to tell you when the fire of God comes upon his people. When God's Holy Spirit begins to shake that which is His heritage, when He calls us together bone to bone to stand up one more time, when He rebuilds the sacrifice of Christ. When suddenly we begin to understand That it's not that we have done anything right.

In the event, we may have done most things wrong. But God is merciful. And God cares about the honor of his name. And there is a moment in society when the devil And those who follow him have the seed of the serpent in them simply cross the line one more time. And they have challenged The Lord of glory.

They've challenged his word. They've challenged him to Be a man of his word, or not be a man of his word. And one more time, Satan steps into where he shouldn't step because he knows no boundaries. thinking there will be no consequence. It is my opinion.

The darkness in our generation has crossed the boundaries of God. Once again. Those children which we haven't killed in the womb. We, and when I say we, I'm talking about as a nation. We've crossed into the fields of their right to know their God.

We've cast them into the waters of confused thinking. Setting before them countless acts of sensuality and violence while telling them there is no God. We have entered as a nation into the fields of the fatherless. We are taking away the children's right to know their God. In New York City, Christmas time, atheists put up a huge billboard in Times Square of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Declaring, as has been done throughout history, that both he and his power to save are a myth. The same thing. That was done in Herod's day, the same thing that was done in the day of Pharaoh and Moses, has been done repeatedly throughout history. Those that have risen up, they Crossed into the fields of the fatherless. They've mocked the power of God.

to deliver children. Remember, Jesus said to Satan, it is written, you will not put God to a test. You do not cross the line of testing God. And I believe that darkness has crossed the line one more time. Times Square was chosen because it's a place that draws the focus and attention.

of this present world. If you will allow me to say it, I believe that Times Square is one of the high places, like in the Old Testament. Of this present world. It's a place where people look for entertainment, fame, lust, you name it. It's a high place of the world.

In the unseen spiritual world, This billboard was a direct challenge to the testimony which God Himself established here. God put a church in Times Square. And the message of this church. Is that before the judgment comes, which we know is coming on the whole world, There's a moment of mercy. There's a moment where God's going to sweep away a refuge of lies.

And draw a multitude. I happen to know and believe that there is a battle going on all around us. And the forces of darkness pushed. Put a billboard of Christ on the cross declaring him to be a myth. Just down the road from this church, we're now in a confrontation very similar to the one that happened in 1 Kings chapter 18 when Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on the top of Mount Carmel.

This darkened age is now declaring itself to be in control. There are those who would lead this generation astray. And just as they did in Elijah's day, they're leaping and rejoicing, feeling that they are now in the majority. The upper hand is theirs. on an altar of their own making.

In Elijah's day, the people who knew God had lost their voice. Remember Elijah said to the people, How long do you stand between two opinions? If God is God, then serve him. And the scripture says the people answered him not a word, they'd lost their voice. The church is seemingly Not all.

But most likely, the majority have lost their voice, they've lost the word of God, lost the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, most assuredly, lost the prayer meeting. There aren't that many prayer meetings left in many places with much faith left in them. And we stand on the threshold of eternity in a very similar place to where the people of God were in this generation. I believe God's going to do something that's going to stagger our minds. I believe that we're going to see.

Churches revived in New York City that we never ever thought We'd see the power of God. I believe with all my heart because God has spoken it to me. I need no other reason to believe it. God has spoken it to my heart. He's shown me in Scripture why he's about to do this.

It's not because we're better, or you, or I, or any one of us are better than anybody else in the city. We're all on the same ground. We've all failed to bring true glory to the name of Jesus Christ. No, no, no, it's not for those reasons. It's because darkness has crossed the line.

Satan has emboldened himself one more time. He's gathered a people with his illogical reasoning in their hearts to say, we can transgress against the word of God, and somehow there will not be a consequence, and our objectives will be met. No, the people had lost their voice. But Elijah was a type of a ministry that rebuilt the altar of God. Elijah, after all of this noise, had had its day.

He rebuilt the altar of God. And he took twelve stones. And he rebuilt it on a principle of unity. Among the people of God. And that's what the Lord has led us to do in this generation.

Denominations now coming together, churches of all walks of life, and this is a bloodline fellowship. I'm not talking about ecumenicism here, I'm talking about believers in Jesus Christ. Are coming together no matter what name is on the door. That's of no significance anymore. We all realize that we are in a battle now that is bigger than ourselves.

And in order to win this battle, we have to come together bone to bone. There's got to be a shaking, there's got to be a dropping and dying to pride. We have to put our distinctives aside and unite at the cross of Jesus Christ. Elijah rebuilt this altar of God with twelve stones, the altar that had in measure. become torn down because there was tremendous division.

among those who represented God in that generation. Elijah did something else. He put the wood in order and the sacrifice in order. In other words, there was a proper theology on this altar. The gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ must be preached again.

The reason that there was a cross, the reason a Savior went to that cross, how God poured His wrath out on His own Son, so that you and I can be set free from the wrath of God for all of eternity and know heaven as our home. How God put his son Into the grave for three days. In the sense you could say the three days is to make sure that he was dead. In the sight of the people, they put a seal on the stone, making sure that there's no chance he was just warm when he was laid in the grave. Three days later, he was raised from the grave.

Ascended up to his father, sits at the right hand of all authority and power. and sent the fire of His Holy Spirit down to His church. Elijah put the sacrifice in order. And then He did something unusual. He said, take water.

and pour it on this sacrifice. Do it once. Do it twice. Do it three times. He made sure That nothing that's man-induced or man-made.

Could be allowed to masquerade as the power of God. I don't know about you. But I am fed up with false revivals. I am tired of human exuberance masquerading itself as the power of God. When God comes, people change.

Lives change. When God's Spirit comes, People turn away from sin and begin to turn to do what is right. When God comes, Past wrongs are made right. Past relationships are healed. When God comes.

Crooked thinking turns straight. Pride is brought down. Despair is lifted up when God comes. When God comes, all flesh is humbled in the presence of a holy God. Every one of us, you and me, are like Isaiah in chapter 6 when he stood at the throne of God and saw the holiness of God and said, Oh God, if you dealt with me in the manner that I deserve, I'm undone, I'm finished, undoomed, no matter whether or not I've been speaking your word to this generation.

If you dealt with me in the manner I deserve. When God comes. When God comes, when God comes, prayer meetings don't have to be organized, people come to pray when God comes. When God comes, I don't have to. Try to burden you to win the lost.

When God comes, you are given a new heart and new eyes. You no longer see men and women as trees walking in society or some kind of a nuisance and annoyance that one day is going to be judged. When God comes, His heart becomes our heart, and His mind becomes our mind. And we begin to see people away. The Christ who went to a cross saw them like you and I and died for them.

No, when God comes, everything changes. And God forbid that in this move of the Spirit there will be human exuberance. But God forbid that anyone should ever be deceived into thinking that human exuberance can produce the power of God. Because it can't. It is God alone that can produce his own power.

Elijah backed away. and sought glory for God alone. In verse 36, he said, It came to pass that the offering of the evening sacrifice That Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham. Isaac and Israel. Let it be known this day that thou art God.

In Israel, and I am thy servant. I've done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord. Hear me, that this people may know that thou art... The Lord God And thou hast turned their heart back again.

Then the fire of the Lord fell. and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. And they said, the Lord is God. The Lord, He is the God.

He backed away and sought glory for God alone. And it's been a constant cry of my heart. Oh Jesus, keep us humble. God help us to walk humbly. Help us, Lord.

To speak right when you choose to do something that may only come once. In our lifetime, Help us to handle it wisely and to be careful. Help us not to pursue titles. And accolades. And diplomas and degrees and everything else that this world would try to confer on us, help us to shun it.

Oh, God. And not touch your glory. Let the sole intent of our hearts be that God be glorified. And that the people's hearts be turned back to him again. That can be the only reason.

That can be our only prayer. That is the prayer that God will answer. Oh Jesus, Son of God. Glorify your name again. Put to shame.

Those who declare you to be a myth. Put them to shame.

So much so that they will bend their knee. and confess with their tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. We ask for destruction for no man. But we realize that those who reject Christ are headed to an eternal destruction. We're asking that they be saved from destruction.

and brought into the life that God freely offers through His Son, Jesus Christ. Darkness. Has crossed the line. One more time. One more time.

God answered in Elijah's day by fire. One more time. Darkness had crossed the line. And the line of Judah raised his head. And said that's far enough.

That's the time we're living in right now. When the line of Judah raises his head, And says that's far enough. You go no farther than you've gone. You have You have stood against The word of God. We are all just beggars, and we are incredibly privileged that God has invited us on this journey with Him.

If darkness has crossed a line. in your life. You don't have to put up with it. If darkness is challenging, The authenticity of God's Word. To you.

If darkness has come in and said, you'll never get out of that prison, you'll never be healed of that wound, you'll never be used of God. Then darkness has crossed a line in your life. Because that's not what God said. about you. and you don't have to give in to it.

The message today has been brought to you by Carter Conlon from Times Square Church. For more information, log on to tsc.nyc. That's tsc.nyc. Plan to be with us next week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon.