Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. The only one allowed to go behind the veil, and he would cover the mercy seat with blood from a sacrifice on behalf of the people. It was the only way sin could be covered for the people. But because of Jesus Christ, believers now have been put in public view as an incredible testimony of mercy.
Let's join Carter now to learn more about this amazing gift. Second Timothy chapter 1 beginning at verse 6. According to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
For this reason I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. Paul was saying, Timothy, the hand of God came on you. If you go to the verse actually before he starts, he says, I remember the tears. Remember the tears in your heart the day you realized that God loved you.
The day you realized for yourself. Yes, your mother and grandmother had faith, but the day you realized that their faith could become yours through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And God stirred you and gave you a gift. Did you know today that everyone who's here in this sanctuary, you're called with a unique and a divine calling of God. To do something for his glory in this generation that you are uniquely called to do.
And not only uniquely called, but you're enabled by God to do it. You're given that inner power of the life of Christ through his Holy Spirit to do the very thing he's called you to do. The only thing that can keep you from doing it is fear and unbelief. Fear that God could use such or would use such a frail vessel as ourselves. And unbelief tragically that the God who created the universe with the word of his mouth could actually do such a thing in us. Drawing back and somehow not believing that with God all things are possible except for you and me.
That's the frailty of the human heart. Paul knew Timothy was a fearful young man. And it was a fearful time that they were living in.
Somewhat similar to our day. There was a deep hostility in the culture towards the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul saw very ominous days ahead of the church in which he was a part of at that time. And he knew that Timothy had this predisposition to fear. But he told Timothy, God hasn't given you a spirit of fear. He gave you power. And he put a love inside of you that will transcend all of the fear that will come your way. The love that cast out fear, the beloved apostle John said in one of his epistles. And he gave you a sound mind Timothy to know these things are true. That you are uniquely called of God.
You have something that God has prescribed through your life that will bring his name to glory. And so stir up that gift of God. If ever there was a time my friend to stir up that gift it's now. If ever there was a time that you and I need to shake off everything that comes to weaken us.
Everything that's occupying our time that is of no profit to eternity. We need to shake these things off and stir that gift. And so the question is, how do I stir the gift of God within me? Do I read my Bible more? Do I pray more? Those are good things.
And those are things we need to do. But here's one method that God showed through Paul this young man Timothy. In verse 8 he tells him, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. In other words, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have the truth that stands above all other thought abiding within your life. So let the perishing of this world scoff, let them scorn, let them vilify, let them deride your message. But you stand between them and death, eternal death on Christ's behalf. And you are fighting for their eternal souls. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
Nothing whatsoever. You have found the meaning of life. You've found truth. You've found eternity. You've found redemption. You've found freedom from sin. You've found eternal purpose. And everything that hell has, it will throw at you through fallen humanity. Through the frailty and thoughts even of your own heart to try to get you to convince that somehow you have something to be ashamed of.
Sit down, cower, don't raise your voice. Don't stand for those because they're going to think you're foolish. A foolish world that's going to spend eternity in hell is going to think that you are foolish.
Because you stand and say, I've found the way to eternal life. I know who God is. He is transforming my heart. He's transforming my life day by day. I'm not yet what the fullness of what God's called me to be. But by God's grace, I'm not what I was yesterday. He is changing my life.
You have nothing to be ashamed of. Secondly, in verses 9 and 10, he said, Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to his own works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began, and now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. In other words, he has brought something into view that was formerly hidden. Your calling is holy, it's appointed, and it's divinely enabled. And you stand as a testimony that death is abolished and eternal life has come into view.
You and I, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Jesus called us the light of the world. We are enabled to do what we do. And it's a holy calling.
It's appointed by God before the world began, and we're not ashamed of that. And we're not going to take our light in this generation and hide it under a bushel. And we're not going to be quiet when our neighbors are dying in their sin and are facing eternal hell and all that means when we have the hope, the truth, and the enablement of God to do the very thing that God's called us to do, to glorify his name in our time. Paul says to Timothy in verse 13, Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you've heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. You need nothing new, Timothy, only what God has given you. So don't run around looking for some new thing. You have everything you need. The fullness of Christ through his word, his Holy Spirit, the redemption he offers is already yours. That is your assignment, that is your mission, that is my mission on the earth. You don't need a new thing.
You don't need to be searching for a new thing. It's all been given to you, this incredible testimony. And he will keep you until your work on earth is finished. Oh, thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God, he will. I'm not afraid of the arrow by day and the tear by night or vice versa. I'm not afraid of it because I am until God says I'm not. I'm not in the hands of anybody but God. The Bible says he knew my day when I was born, he knew the last beat in my heart. It was all pre-counted.
It was all pre-calculated by God. I can't turn one hair black or white by worrying. There's nothing I can do except release myself into the hands of God. As Paul said to Timothy, I'm persuaded that that which I've given to him, he's able to keep until that day when he takes me home and deposits me at the throne of grace for all of eternity. I am until God says I'm not. Let that be sown so deep in your heart. You cannot be taken out of this world before the time. And if you are taken out, God appointed it for a specific reason. I don't need to understand everything in this life.
I need to believe the one who's faithful to me. And so we stir up the gift by understanding not only who we are but what we are. Do you know what you are to this world?
You might know who you are. You're redeemed. You're cleansed. You have the Spirit of God upon you. You have giftings of God to do something that glorifies him. You have a holy, divine, enabled calling. You have a testimony of grace and mercy.
And that's much of who you are. But let me tell you now what you are to a fallen world. In the Old Testament, the mercy of God was available. But the working of mercy was hidden behind a veil and remained a great mystery to most of the people. In the temple, there was a tabernacle and there were implements in that tabernacle that represented the totality of God's provisions covering his grace, his ability to bring life out of death. It was all inside that tabernacle.
The words of God were there as well. Above the tabernacle, there was a mercy seat. And on that mercy seat at prescribed times throughout the year, the high priest alone would go behind the veil and he would cover that mercy seat in the blood of an innocent sacrifice, an animal that had to be sacrificed on the behalf of the people. It was God's remedy. It was the only way that sin could be covered and forgiven.
And then this kind of glory, the glory of God would come down upon that mercy seat and it would be such an incredible vision. But it was hidden from the people. They could only stand in the outer court with the fear of God upon them because the scripture tells us clearly that if the high priest did not properly prepare himself before going behind that veil, if there was sin that was atoned for, unrepentant of, willful in his life, he would die in the presence of a holy God. And the people outside that veil were afraid because if they knew if that veil somehow fell from its moorings, the presence of a holy God without the covering of the blood would cause them to immediately die in the presence of a holy God.
Leviticus 16, 2, it says, You imagine, it's only at prescribed times, it's only one person covering the mercy seat with the blood of an innocent sacrifice who could see the glory of God's mercy and his power working in beautiful operation together. But it was hidden from the masses. Nobody could see it. It was something they would have to try to picture in their minds because there was no testimony of it. It was all hidden behind a veil. And as wonderful as it was, the masses of the people could only hear the report, but they could not see this glory and mercy of God in operation.
Hebrews chapter 9 verses 7 to 9 says, How wonderful it must have been. But can you imagine if you and I were in this temple and we're standing outside wondering what mercy looks like. What does mercy look like?
We have this conceptual forgiveness. A high priest comes out at his prescribed time and declares us forgiven and says you have received mercy. But what does it look like? What does mercy look like?
What is a vision of mercy? And it remained behind the veil, it remained hidden until the day that Jesus Christ as our high priest himself entered into that holy place. Not with the blood.
The writer of Hebrews says of calves and goats, which has to be repeated and repeated and repeated over and over again. No, he went in with his own blood. He placed that blood on the mercy seat and it was received as the covering for those who would trust in his sacrifice on the cross of Calvary as sufficient to pay the price for their sins. It would be a once and forever covering of mercy that would come into the hearts of those who would choose to believe in Jesus Christ.
Christ himself as a high priest, Hebrews 9-11, of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is not made of this creation. Not with the blood of ghosts and calves but with his own blood he entered into the most holy place once and for all having obtained eternal redemption by his own blood. Now when he did this, when he went in, when he paid the price, the scripture tells us the veil that separated this incredible work of God's mercy from the general populace. This veil that allowed only one man at one prescribed time generally once a year to go in behind and see this, have a visual declaration of this incredible mercy of God when Jesus took his blood in behind the veil, figuratively speaking, and laid it on the mercy seat. God received it. The separation now between God and man was over. God could now dwell with people without them fearing dying in his presence because there was a covering of the blood. And when Jesus did this, the scripture tells us in Matthew 27 verse 50, Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Now we know what he did because the writer of Hebrews tells us he went in behind the veil.
He put his blood, now I'm speaking in figure and type, on that mercy seat. And when he did this, it says, Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked, the rocks were split, and graves were opened. In other words, the mercy of God that had been hidden, the fullness of it was hidden from the day that Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. But when Jesus went in behind the veil, that veil was torn, the rocks were split, graves were opened.
In other words, the mercy of God came into public view with enough power to shake the earth and raise the dead. It's important for you and I to understand this. You say, well, how do I fit into all of this? It's by understanding not only who I am, but also what I am. I am, you are, a visible demonstration to fallen mankind of that which was once hidden to them. You are the mercy seat. You are that place that is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. You are that place where the Shekinah glory of God rests upon you. You are a demonstration now in type of that which was hidden behind the veil. Do you understand your life being brought out by God, your life appointed before the foundation of the world, your life called with a calling that is holy, that cannot be taken away.
Nobody can stop you from what God's called you to do. You have been put into public view as an incredible testimony of mercy and grace. Did you ever wonder why in Acts chapter two when those 120 came up out of the upper room and into the public sphere, the 3,000 people who had a belly full of religion most of their lives, but they had lived on the other side of the veil.
Now they saw mercy, they saw power, they saw the glory of God. That's why you can't be quiet now. That's why you must never be hidden. I'm a type of the mercy seat and so are you. I'm not the mercy seat obviously, but I'm a type of the mercy seat. I'm covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
I'm forgiven. The glory of God's Spirit is upon me and in me and I live. I live, God's Spirit is upon me and I live.
If there was no covering, I would die the moment the Holy Spirit touched me, but because there is the covering of God's blood upon my life through His Son Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit can live inside of me and because He lives there, I live too. Therefore, I'm unashamed of who I am. I'm unashamed of the Christ within me. I'm unashamed of this testimony that God Himself has given me, this power of His endless life that He has chosen to plant within mine. I'm not living this Christian life behind a veil.
I'm not going to be. That's why the Scripture says if your testimony is hidden, it's hidden from those that are lost, running through this world, still looking for mercy, but still living on the wrong side of the veil. But oh, thank God that I am as you are holy. I'm appointed and divinely enabled. My testimony is not about me.
If it was, nobody would want it. Trust me. My testimony is about mercy. That's the testimony of the Christian church.
That's why you don't have to be perfect to open your mouth in this generation because people will point out your faults in the marketplace and in your family. Yeah, you lost your temper last Thursday, and I saw what you did over there, and I heard what you did over there, and you can say, yes, it's all true, but it's not about me. It's about mercy. Mercy has touched my life, and I'm not ashamed of the mercy of God that has touched me, and I am divinely appointed by God to bring that mercy to you, a testimony of that mercy. Don't look at me, but look at the one who has covered me.
Look at the one who has enabled me. Look at the one who has come inside my life, and as I said earlier, I am not yet what I ought to be, but I'm not what I was yesterday, and leaving those things behind, I'm pressing on to the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You stir up the gift of God by not falling into the trap of thinking that I have to be walking in human perfection before I can open my mouth. You have a divine and appointed calling. You are an incredible testimony of mercy, so don't let the devil or anybody else stop you from speaking.
It's all about mercy. When I was a lost man and I met a Christian, I wasn't looking for perfection. I was looking for reality. If we present perfection in ourselves, people can't attain to it, so even if they find themselves marginally in agreement, they can't make the step because they say, I could never be like him or her.
Why would I even try? A testimony of mercy requires humility. It requires the ability to say, I'm not everything you see. I have struggles like you do, and I got trials, and I get depressed, and I get mad, and sometimes I do things I shouldn't do, but I want to talk to you about this incredible covering of mercy that has come on my life. And it's come on my life because I have believed in the sacrifice of God's Son on the cross for me, and I'm not playing games with God. I am sincere in my faith in Jesus Christ, and He responded to my sincerity by giving me His Holy Spirit, who has come into my life, and now He's changing me.
He's changing me daily because He's a God of mercy. My life is a testimony of the mercy of God. Let that be your testimony.
Let that be your song. And you watch how many people will want to come to the place where you worship, whether it's, I'm talking about both your prayer closet, the place where you serve God, or your church where you attend. If you will let that testimony be yours, you'd be amazed.
You'd be absolutely amazed at how hungry people in this generation really are for the truth of Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. For more information and resources to help you in your walk in 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 Conlon.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-07-25 17:14:36 / 2023-07-25 17:23:20 / 9