Carter Conlin from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. I have been young and now I'm old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken. Never. Not in Africa. Not in India.
Not in Asia. Not in Central America. Not in South America. Not in the inner city New York. I have never seen the righteous forsaken.
Not even one time. We're glad you've joined us for a call to the nation with Carter Conlin. There is a pathway to spiritual authority, but it is not always an easy one. It often leads through hardship, weakness, loneliness, and surrender. In today's message, Carter Conland challenges us to move beyond a faith focused on ourselves and allow God to use our lives to bring hope, freedom.
And the message of Jesus Christ to others. Let's join Carter now with his message titled "The Real Pathway to Power." First Corinthians, in chapter four, verse eighteen, Paul says, "Now some are puffed up as though I were not coming to you, but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the word of those who are puffed up." But the power, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. I think in America today, there's just too much talk in the house of God and too little power. And I don't know about you, but I'm very, very weary of it all. The Jesus Christ, he told us in the book of Luke.
He stood in the pulpit of his day and he said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." Because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. In other words, there's a message. There's an authority with the message that tells every man, every woman, every young person who feels like they don't have the resource to become anything in life. No, there's there's something of God. There's there's an anointing of God that just unravels that lie around the human heart and lets men and women know, and children know that God has a divine purpose, not just to save you.
But to indwell you, and to empower you, and to enable you, and to make you into what you could never be in yourself, and give you what you could never possess, and take you where you could never go, I know this because I have lived this by the grace of God. I love the fact that most everywhere I go, I'm not qualified to be. Which is an awesome way to live your Christian life. I've stood and preached to government, spoken to governments. I've been in places of civil war and seen God bring peace to areas of war.
I've been invited by a president of another nation to see if, well, national television and radio, we could avert another genocide in that nation. I've just seen God do what only God can do. I've been in places where the Spirit of God came down and and did something that only God only God could do. And I love the fact that it's not by might, it's not by power, it's by the Spirit of God. It's when you and I we learn to cooperate with God.
We're not trying to produce something in our own strength. We're just simply saying, Lord, here I am. I'm available for you to use me to make a difference in somebody's life. And when that starts to happen in the body of Christ, then suddenly words of knowledge begin to come. Words of wisdom.
You begin speaking to somebody in a restaurant or in a store, and when you leave, you say, That wasn't me speaking. That was God speaking through me. I didn't have those thoughts. I I couldn't put those those. I couldn't tie those thoughts together the way the Lord just did.
How how could I know what was going on in that person's heart? You see, God knew. God God heard the cry. God knows what that person's been been sighing about in the streets. And suddenly He gives a word of of knowledge.
He gives a gifting of the Holy Spirit. He gives us ability. I'm talking about spiritual authority. I'm talking about we're not just out there blabbing some scripture to somebody that that might be true, but it's not relevant to their situation. No, God gives us a word.
God gives us. I remember one time I was leaving Starbucks, and I was crossing the street to Times Square Church, and there's a there's a young guy about 18 years of age, and he's standing there with a cup and he's begging on the street. And I walked right up to—he's a big kid too—and I walked right up to him. The guy who was with me was a little scared, and I looked him right in the eye and said, "What are you doing out here? What are you doing out here?" And he looked at me, and I said, "You have a praying mother.
You have a praying grandmother, and here you are, a beggar on the street." I said, "Around the corner tonight, seven o'clock. You go to church because there you're the son of the king. Out here, the devil's made you a beggar. In there, in there, you're the son of a king." And as I began to speak to him, the tears started coming down his face. And I said, "You make sure you're there." And he said, "Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. I'll be there." And I said, "You have a praying mother and grandmother." He said, "Yes, sir. I really do." I said, "Do you get to church, son? You get to church." See, that's spiritual authority. That's just the willingness to just step out of the box.
God puts a thought in your heart. You go with the thought. Will you always be right on? No. If you're a baseball player, sometimes you strike out, but doesn't mean you don't get back up to bat again, right?
The next time around. No, you won't always get it right. But if you don't try, you'll never get anything right. There was a famous hockey player that once said, "You miss 100 percent of the shots that you don't take." He's anointed me to preach to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty or freedom to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, people who can't see a way forward.
They can't see a way out of their dilemma. They can't see a way into a future. They have no idea what God wants to do in their lives, and to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Now, Paul. Was telling the Corinthian church that some people talk a good game, but you don't know if they can play or not till you see them on the field. There's a lot of people talk a real good game in the Church of Jesus Christ, but on the field they're not much. And telling you straight out, you know, I was sharing today that you know some people talk about my my old gridiron days when I was in college and played football, but you put a football in their hands and they can only throw a wobble ball. They begin to realize.
Well, if if you were there, you were end in guard, right? End of the bench and guard of the water bucket. That's that's what that was your. There's a pathway to excellence in everything we do, and there's a pathway to excellence in God's kingdom, in His power being revealed through Jesus Christ in His church. Many sadly, they want preeminence, but not the pathway that leads to power.
They want to stay light. They want to just be like a little flat stone skipping on the ocean. They don't ever want to have to go through what we have to go through to get to the place where God is going to use our lives for His glory. In the book of Acts, when the apostle Paul was called, in Acts chapter nine, verses fifteen and sixteen, the Lord said to him, "Go, for he's a chosen vessel of Mine." To bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my namesake. You see, Paul had spiritual authority.
That's why we read his words today, two thousand years plus later, and it still moves our hearts. That's why Paul could say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," because he had to learn to do all things through Christ who strengthened him. Paul had a perspective that's eternal. Paul had a weight in his speech. Nobody could ignore the speech of this man, because he had chosen to take the pathway that leads to spiritual authority.
No matter what I have to go through, no matter where I have to be, no matter what it costs me to go into the place where God is calling me to go. Listen to the testimony of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 11. Are they ministers of Christ? Beginning at verse twenty-three, I speak as a fool. I am more in labors, more abundant in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
From the Jews, five times I received forty stripes minus one. Five times. Most people didn't survive this even once. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.
Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I've been in the deep. He doesn't even talk about the snake bite. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil and sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. And besides the other things, what comes daily upon me—the deep concern, Paul said for all the churches.
This was his testimony. It was a tough road, but it was the pathway that the power of God began to flow through his life, and is still flowing today as we read his words. It was the writer of Hebrews tells us, or Romans rather. That we should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. God help us.
God help us to get out of self-focus. God help us to get out of always coming to the house of God for what's in it for me today. What new thing can I add to my resume? What new thing can I give to myself to have a more enhanced personality, etc.? No, we ought to be coming to the house of God when we come to the.
A transition into a place of maturity. I said, God, give me something today for somebody else. Give me something that I need. Oh God, give me courage to go into that place and speak to those people. Give me victory in my own life that I can take that victory to others and say, Listen, I want to tell you what God's done for me.
He can do for you. Lord, it's not about me anymore. See, that's the point of maturity. That's the road that takes us to a place. That's where this church is going.
That's what God has been doing in this congregation. Every congregation has to prove its right to exist, and you have come to that place. I believe that. That's why the Lord sent me here. You've come to that place where God's.
There's a transition's going to happen, and it's not about me anymore. It's now about the society that I live in. It's about moms and dads that are crying out for victory. It's about young people. It's it's about those who need to know there's a Savior who loves them.
And by the grace of God, I'm not going to be quiet anymore. By the grace of God, I'm not going to be self focused anymore. By the grace of God, I'm going to go where God leads me, and I'm going to speak what God gives me to say when I get there. Jesus said in Matthew sixteen twenty four, "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Now that's that's a fanciful thing just to memorize, but it's a harder thing to walk with, because when you begin to walk with God the way Christ has called us to walk, with every cross comes a Judas. Do you understand that?
With every cross, you will be betrayed. When you go all in for God, there will be a force of hell that comes against you to stop you. You can set your watch by it. You can be sure of it. I always call Judas an an unfortunate necessity in our redemption.
Without Judas, there would have been no cross, and without the cross, there would have been no redemption. An unfortunate necessity. And when you take up your cross, you will find people turn against you. It's it's almost as natural as breathing. And you will find all in that place the power to forgive.
You'll find the heart of the one who said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they do." You'll find the ability to forgive. What you couldn't forgive before, you can forgive because you have chosen to walk this pathway of spiritual authority. The pathway of God's power leads through loneliness. I think about Esther, taken out of her natural family in a sense, and taken into a place that was unfamiliar to her, and when God finally calls her.
Calls her at a time when, when the king hasn't even called for her for 30 days, and remember through Mordecai, her cousin, the calling of God comes to her, and she's. It's almost like the type of person says, "I used to have such a passionate prayer life.
Well, would be that God had called me five years ago, you know? We, I mean, we were we were like this. Jesus and I were like this, and now I'm not talking to him. He's not talking to me. And here you are." You see, it's it's it's not about us.
It never was about us. It's about the plan of God. It's about, and quite often He calls us when we feel the least qualified to do what He's calling us to do. Why couldn't it have been ten years ago when I was when I was just I was at every prayer meeting. I was fasting until my ribs stuck out.
I was I was given to the things of God, and then I just kind of cooled off, and then finally the call of God comes. Because it's never been about you. I don't want you touching the glory. I don't want you sharing the glory. This is about my calling, my presence in your life.
It's not about you, and it's all about the sake of others. This girl was going to be given a pen. At one point, she was going to be a co-ruler, co-regent with her husband, which was unheard of in that culture. And she was going to rewrite the law of death into a law of life. It was amazing.
God was going to give her spiritual authority, but not when. Her relationship with the king was at its pinnacle. It was when the king hadn't been calling for her. She hadn't been talking to the king for thirty days. You think about Moses, and he'd known from when he was a youth what his calling was, and set it set out to to make it happen, and and fell on his face.
And forty years he's in the wilderness, not just in the desert. He's in the backside of the desert. anybody anybody ever been there? I could give tours. I've been there a few times.
I give actually, back backside of the desert tours. Pastor Carter joined me. You know, I've been there. I know what that. I know what that feels like.
Moses was 40 years feeling like the best days were behind him. He had failed in his in his mission in his ministry. Called to deliver three million people, and all he'd done is put one Egyptian in the sand. It's all he's accomplished, and many of us at times in our lives feel like that. But he was on the pathway to spiritual authority, and it's when when he seemed to be the weakest, when his natural speaking ability was gone, when he was old and not young, he no longer had a sword in his hand.
He no longer had access to the political authority in the palace. He didn't have access to wealth and all of the things of this world that had once been at his disposal. He now has a stick in his hand. And only and God sends him to bring three million people out of captivity with a stick and a one-line sermon. And and not only that, he's so weak he needs his brother to deliver the sermon.
I always feel that the only reason that Pharaoh didn't kill them both right on the spot is because it was so humorous. These two old men come in, you know, let my people go. I think it was just funny, but then you see Pharaoh got caught in his own arrogance because once the hand of God came into the battle, it now became a contest of power. and And if he would have killed them, it would make him look weak.
So he actually got trapped by his own arrogance. I love it. I just love the way God works. He doesn't call us into this pathway of spiritual authority when we're when we're the best speakers, when we have it all together, when we have this whole legacy of faithfulness. We might have failed, but if we we know the scripture, but can we can we consider the scripture for ourselves that it's not it's not at the pinnacle, of success that we're called.
It's sometimes that what we consider the pinnacle of failure that God calls us. And you think of David, the king. You know, in Psalm twenty three, David. Knew the anointing of God as a youth. Can you imagine having Samuel the prophet come in and pour a horn of oil on your head and single you out from your brothers and and declare that you're going to be the next king of Israel?
Wow, you know, a lot of us, if we would have known the journey, would we have taken the journey? You know, when when God first calls and he just you know just it's I know personally it's been a long haul. It's it's been difficult at times. It's been there have been times like I couldn't understand what God was doing and why He was allowing it to happen. And here's David; he's anointed; he's going to be the next king, and and and he defeats Goliath.
And you think, wow, it's like from here it's to the throne for sure. And he ends up a worship leader in a sense at the throne of Saul. And his songs had the power to drive away the devil. Literally, when the evil spirit would come upon Saul, he would just sing and worship, and that spirit would lose its authority and its power.
So this this kid had bravery; he had everything. He had a musical ability, and but not long after all of these things, he finds himself fleeing from a jealous and insane leader who just would not allow. He just he just couldn't. Saul couldn't let go. There's a lot of leaders like that in the body of Christ.
Unfortunately, that's why there's so much division in the churches. That's why transitions don't happen well quite often because the former leaders can't let go. They they can't let go of the influence and authority or the the whole sense of identity is in the fact that I'm I'm ruling and reigning. And Saul couldn't let go, and so he ends up. He's so insanely jealous of this young man that has the anointing of God.
He's now pursuing him, and trying to kill him. And poor David. He has to pass through. In verse four of Psalm twenty-three, it says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they they comfort me." So David said, "One day I am going to perish by the hand of Saul," and so he ends up like he loses his confidence in God just for a season, and he runs into the actually into the enemy's camp, but it's only a shadow.
The devil will try to tell you he's going to defeat you, but it's only a shadow. I love the way Pastor Teresa says it: "the the shadow of a dog can't bite you." Death is only a shadow, folks. It's only a shadow. That's all it is. There's no victory in the grave.
There's no sting in death anymore. Death was defeated on the cross of Jesus Christ. Thank God. Thank God, thank God! I can tell you one thing for sure: in this room, you are all going to die eventually.
I can, I can, I can promise you that. Put that in your pocket promise book. We're all barring the rapture of the church. We're all going to die in this room. But then again, we don't.
We just shed this shell, and we're going to be in the presence of God forever and ever and ever and ever. We're going to remember these days. And I tell you, there's going to be young people by the millions dancing at an altar in heaven, just like we saw this morning. And we're going to shout glory to God because we cannot be defeated, as the Church of Jesus Christ. Yes, we might have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
As David once did, but I remind you, it's only a shadow. That's all it is. It's only a shadow. It's not permanent. And when the sun rises, the shadows disappear by grace, God's grace.
David says, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies, not in the absence of my enemies, in the presence of my enemies." Hallelujah! I've had a few in my lifetime, but I thank God for the table of God. You sit down at the table with Christ, and and strength is there, and trust is there, and hope is there, and future is there. And our enemies, they draw their swords, and all they can do is butter my bread. (Laughter) I have been young and now I'm old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken.
Never, not in Africa, not in India, not in Asia, not in Central America, not in South America, not in the inner city New York. I have never seen the righteous forsaken. Not even one time. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. I've ministered in Sullivan Prison in New York City, locked in with sixty lifers who will never get out of jail.
But most of them have come to Christ as Lord and Savior, and even there, they are not forsaken by the presence of God, the power of God, and the Spirit of God. Oh, Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! Glory to the name of Jesus Christ! We live on the victory side. By God's grace, we will not.
Be silent anymore. We will not be silent. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so in this generation. There is a whole generation that needs to know that there is a God who loves them, a God who died for them, a God who will keep them, a God who has an eternal purpose for their lives. And David said, "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Surely goodness and mercy.
There are times, there are seasons of difficulty and sorrow, but we begin to realize as we pass through this valley of the shadow of death, as we sit at the table of God's provision and presence. And we begin to realize, God, you have followed me all the days of my life. And when I thought I would be overwhelmed, when I thought I would be triumphed over, your goodness and your mercy were following me the whole time. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! This is the message of the church. This is the message of the last days church.
This is the message of the church that will know the presence and power of God in the last season we're now living. This is the message of the people of God that will have spiritual authority. When I say spiritual authority, I mean that I can speak into your life in such a way that it changes your future. It diffuses the powers of darkness that are trying to gain a hold around your heart and mind, or trying to convince you that there is no purpose for your future, you don't have a reason to live.
Now, spiritual authority can diffuse that by the grace of Almighty God. You are making the transition as a church now into spiritual maturity. That's why God sent me here. Even before the events of the last couple of weeks, I knew I needed to be here, and this is the message God gave me. You are making the transition into spiritual authority.
You will see people that you didn't see before. You will speak with an authority you didn't have before. God will be glorified in this house. I shared this morning. There's not a whole lot of room left, but whatever is here, there's going to be young people hanging off those balconies to hear the word of God in the days ahead.
I predict that you're going to have to put screens if you don't want to have them in the lobby for people to hear the gospel here. You've been listening to Carter Conlin from Times Square Church in New York City. For more information and resources to help you in your walk with Christ, log on to tsc.nyc. That's tsc.nyc. And be sure to be with us next week for a call to the nation with Carter Conlin.
