Does God Have to Hide His Miracles from You

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. What a wonderful thing it is in this generation to be in the presence of God and to have hearts that are just filled with faith, with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank God that if you need a victory, I believe that if you will reach out with all of your heart, this is a moment that God can do something for you through his son, Jesus Christ, that you never ever thought could be done in your lifetime. He is still a God of miracles.

I'd like you to hear a testimony before I speak. I just want to say thank you to Sarah for being here today. She had a 90-degree angle without any muscle tone left in them and gave her the ability to walk around her apartment praising God.

We just are so, so thankful for what he has done for Sarah and for what he's going to be able to do for you. I told Sarah, I said, the day you walk, this was my promise to you, the day you walk, we're going to do a Jericho march around the church. Now, the Jericho march is in honor of Joshua and the children of Israel when they came into the Promised Land and there was a stronghold called Jericho. The very first thing before they inherited the place God had prepared for them that had to be taken down was this stronghold. They didn't have the strength to defeat it, but they had a battle plan. The battle plan was just for seven days, just walk around and say nothing.

Walk around, just obey me, just walk around. And the worshipers went first, blowing the trumpets. And it must have been quite a sight to the enemies that were inside this stronghold. But the Lord gave them an instruction. And the scripture says, when they gave a shout, the walls came down. And so we're going to do that.

We're going to ask you to do that in your home, too, as well. You might have just a little room you're in and whatever walls are in that place of your promise, whatever strongholds that are too difficult for you to defeat, you simply walk around your kitchen and at the appropriate time, you give God a shout. And the Lord says, I'm going to bring your walls down and I'm going to give you victories that you can't win for yourself.

In your own strength that can only be won by the power and the goodness and the grace of Almighty God. You know, we're folks, we're living in the very last days. We're living in the days before Christ's return. And I do believe that God is going to show himself powerful again on behalf of those whose hearts are turned towards him.

And Sarah, by her own testimonies, didn't have didn't have a great amount of faith. I love the fact that in your story, you said if I fall down and get hurt, this is on you. I love that. And the fact that the Lord is not looking for us to have mountains of faith, but mustard, a mustard seed of faith, just a little bit, God, I'll do it.

Although in the natural, this is insane. If I stand up, I'm going to end up on the floor for the rest of the day. And it's not going to be bring honor to you and the courage to let go of the counter after just the miracle of even standing up the courage to let go and to begin to raise your hands and praise God. I love, I love, I love, I love, I love that fact. The original title I had for this was, Does God have to hide his miracles from you? So Father, I just want to thank you. I want to thank you, Lord, for this wonderful testimony.

I want to thank you for the great, great privilege, Lord, of returning to prayer. Lord, you started, the church was birthed in prayer on this earth, and you told your own people to tarry, to wait, to wait until I've given you the power to stand up and do what you're called to do. And so, Lord, thank you once again, as we see the darkness coming in and encroaching literally on every facet of our society, there seems to be this flood of evil. But once again, you're speaking to your church and you're telling us, tarry and wait upon me until I give you the power to stand. For when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against it.

So God, here we are. And we do, according to your word, yield our bodies as a living sacrifice for you, for your purposes, which you tell us is only a reasonable service. God, forgive us for trying to do this in our own strength. Forgive us, Lord, for thinking we were smart enough to build a kingdom we can't even see. Forgive us, Lord, for thinking that just by rationalization and argument, somehow we could advance the kingdom of God farther than we already have in our own efforts.

God Almighty, forgive us for the pride of wanting to be accepted by a society that rejected you. Lord, we just ask you, God, for the courage and the humility to just let you be God inside of each one of our lives. And as you raise us up, raise me up, raise everyone in this sanctuary up, those that are listening, God, raise us up in this last generation to be a testimony that will bring honor and glory to your name. God Almighty, we put ourselves into your hands, Lord, and we trust Jesus Christ as you trusted your father would raise you from the dead on the third day. Your word tells us that the same spirit that raised you from the dead will also quicken our mortal bodies.

And so, God, we need quickening. We admit it, Lord. We confess it, God. We need the quickening of your Holy Spirit in order to be the people we're called to be.

You told us we're a city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. You told us that we're lights that shine in the firmament of the heaven to give direction to those who sit in darkness. You told us, Lord, that we're the lanterns that are to be filled with oil to point the way to the bridegroom in this last hour of time. So, God, give us the strength that we now need, every last one of us, Lord. We bend our hearts before you, God. We will not steal ourselves in pride. We won't mock you.

We won't laugh at your power. God Almighty, we recognize our need of you and we ask you to do in us what only you can do. Oh, Jesus Christ, Son of God, come and be glorified again. Before you return physically to this earth, before you come and take your church home, Lord Jesus, be glorified one more time, one more time on the earth, oh God. Let it be known that you are God and we ask it in your precious name.

Amen. Now, Jesus is traveling. Mark chapter 5 and verse 4.

In his journey, in verse 22, it says, And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet and begged him earnestly, saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed and she will live. So Jesus went out and a great multitude followed him and thronged him. Now, in between this and where I'm now going to in verse 35, there was another interaction that happened with a young lady that had a physical problem. Jesus met her and healed her. In verse 35 now, it says, While he was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, who said, Your daughter is dead.

Why trouble the teacher any further? Now, there are voices coming to some tonight that are listening to this service, this prayer service online, and these voices are saying, Your hope is dead. Your future is dead. Your marriage is dead. Your hope of ever being free from addiction is dead.

Your hope of ever escaping the imprint, perhaps that pornography is brought into your mind and into your character is dead. And the list goes on and on. Why trouble the master any farther? Why trouble the teacher any farther? And you always will have to break through those voices if you're going to receive the miracle of God.

It would have been so easy for Sarah just to lean on the last doctor's report that told her there's nothing more we can do for you. Why trouble the teacher any further in this thing? Now, as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be afraid, only believe. Now, you can imagine you've just been told that that which you loved the most perhaps in life, that which you had put your greatest expectations on and your heart is set for is dead. Now, suddenly the voice of God comes and overrides these other voices that say, Don't waste your time bothering the teacher any further. And the voice of Jesus rises up and says, Do not be afraid, only believe. And this is what I feel that God's put on my heart for you that are listening online.

Do not be afraid of whatever report has come your way or whoever has told you that there's no hope for your future, whether it's somebody close to you, whether it's somebody far from you. The voice of God rises above all these other voices. Remember, he is the voice that rides above the storm. He has the power to cancel your storm. He has the power to lift you up above everything that would swallow you, as Sarah said, and bring you into a place of despair and depression. Do not be afraid, only believe. I remember the first time I met Sarah and Ross, they came to a fellowship that we had with the sabbatical students at that time.

And I remember there was almost like a heat rose in my spirit. I looked at this precious young lady, not knowing her full story, and the thought came into my heart. This girl does not belong in this wheelchair. This is not her future. Now, I didn't know her medical prognosis.

I didn't know what the doctors had said about her. It doesn't matter when God speaks what anybody else has said. I remember looking at Sarah and I said, you don't belong in this wheelchair.

You don't belong in this wheelchair, and this year you're going to get out of this wheelchair. And, you know, somebody said to me later on, do you think you should have said that? And I said, of course, if the Holy Spirit is moving upon you to say something, say it.

Say it. God is still a God of miracles, and God moves upon our hearts. It's not wishful thinking when the Holy Spirit moves upon you. You don't belong there. It was the Spirit of God, not just in me, but in others that looked at this young girl and said, this is not your future. You don't belong in this chair.

God has something else for your life. And I was bold enough to say that this year you're getting out of the chair, and when you do, we're going to do a Jericho march in the chapel here at our Bible school, which we're going to do at the end of the service. We're going to walk around in this sanctuary, not seven times. We'll probably just do it once or twice. Sarah is actually going to lead us in the Jericho march. We're going to finish our march at the altar, and then we're going to give a shout like they did as they entered the Promised Land.

We're going to give a shout for you tonight. We're going to give a shout for you and your struggle, you and your battle, you who have been led to believe that something that has come and encroached on your freedom has got the right to your future. But I'm going to say to you, like I said to Sarah, this is not your future. God has something for you that is beyond your addiction.

It's beyond your self-loathing. It's far beyond any words that anybody at any time has ever spoken over your life. God's word has the power to create a universe. God can raise you up. God can change you. He can set you free. And Jesus Christ can use your life for his glory. And he said to the ruler, don't be afraid, only believe.

And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. And he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a tumult, and those who wept and wailed loudly. And there's no shortage. You know, there are people tonight listening to me online and there's no shortage of people weeping and wailing over you. Maybe it's your mother that says, oh, I'd hoped for so much more in my son or my daughter.

I'd hoped they hadn't turned out like this. Maybe it's a friend. Maybe it's a husband or wife or a coworker.

Who knows who it is, but somebody along the line is weeping over you and what you've become and how it seems like your future is lost and you're doomed to be this thing that you are for the rest of your days. And then suddenly into your situation comes Jesus. Don't you love it? The simplicity of it all. Jesus, Jesus, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and we saw him. We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And suddenly, suddenly the one who was with the Father in the beginning, through whom all things were created, the one who has the power with the spoken word to create a universe comes walking in the door.

And you would think that everybody in the room would be on their faces. God has come. Oh, thank you, Lord. God has come.

Oh, thank you, God. The Word has come to us that has the power to create and recreate and set free and give life where life is not any longer. And when he said to them, Why do you make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping. Now, the original definition of the word sleeping means the child is just laying down to rest. And, you know, the people at that time should have known this scripture.

It was not something that was strange to them or was hidden. For example, at the end of the book of Daniel, the Lord says to Daniel, Go your way till the end, for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of days. John chapter 4, Jesus himself, in verse 25 to 29 says, Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For the Father has life in himself, and he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice. All, A-L-L, who are in the graves will hear his voice.

Not dead, just sleeping, just set apart, just waiting for the moment. The voice of the Son of God will call them back into life again. And come forth, and those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. And John the beloved in the book of Revelation chapter 20 and verse 12 says, I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one, according to their works. And so when Jesus walks into the room, he says this, you know, because there's a sense in the hearts of these people that death is final, that this is it, it's over, there's no future, there's nothing else. And Jesus said, no, she's just reserved to the day that she hears my voice.

She's not dead, she's just sleeping. We are eternal, whether you like it or not tonight, you're an eternal being, everyone here. You will be raised up by the voice of God one day, and you'll stand before God to be ushered into the kingdom of heaven for eternity, or the alternative is you'll be cast away from God, if you've not received Christ as your Savior for all of eternity. And so he was showing the people in the room that I have the power of life, in me is life, and nothing is lost when I'm at the center of the situation. Now what did the people do when they heard these words? Verse 40 says they ridiculed him. They laughed, they scorned.

How many of us are like that? When God comes to us, or as he did with Sarah, she could have laughed, she could have ridiculed, and say, oh God, Jesus, don't be ridiculous. You know I can't walk, the doctors have said I can't walk.

You know my legs are atrophied, you know that they're seized at a 90-degree angle, you know that I don't have the power to get out of this chair. She could have laughed, she could have ridiculed, but instead she made the choice to trust that the voice she was hearing was the voice of the Son of God, and grabbed hold of the kitchen counter and pulled herself up out of a wheelchair. And just as the scripture says, immediately her legs and ankle bones were given strength. It's amazing when God does a miracle how he chooses to do it. And Sarah chose not to ridicule him, but to believe him. But they ridiculed him. So what did he do?

He put them all outside. Isn't that amazing? You know, people who ridicule God and laugh at his power find themselves outside of the miracle working power of God.

It's really that simple. Relegated to arguments, relegated to sorrow, relegated to weeping, relegated to all the reasons and excuses why things can't happen and how everything has changed. Well that was for then, but this is for now, and God did that then, but God doesn't do that now, and they end up outside of the miracle working power of God. When he had put them all outside, he took the father and mother of the child and those who were with him and entered where the child was lying.

And he took the child by the hand and said to her, Talithi kumi, which is translated, little girl, I say to you, arise. And immediately the girl arose and walked. She didn't just rise up and kind of get propped up in a 90 degree angle in the bed, or a 45 degree angle, she got up. She obviously had been very sick before she died. She obviously probably not had anything to eat or couldn't drink or whatever the situation was, and died. Now immediately she arose and walked, and for she was 12 years of age, and they were overcome with great amazement.

But he commanded them strictly that no one should know it. Just think about that for a moment. Jesus just raised the girl from the dead.

She's up out of deathbed and she's walking, now I command you, don't tell the people outside what you just saw. I want you to think about that. I want you to think about the power or the penalty, may I put it that way, of those who choose to ridicule the power of God. They ridicule the presence of God.

They ridicule, if God chooses to act outside their thinking, they can't receive it, and all they can do is ridicule it, and so they end up outside. So you can just see, I could just, I wasn't there obviously, but my mind always works this way, I can just see everybody's outside the house, and out comes the mom and the dad and the disciples, and this little girl, and she's walking, and they say, how did that happen, what happened? And they go, can't tell you.

I'm sorry we can't tell you, we were commanded not to tell you. So they never know, they never knew. And then the last thing, Jesus did, he commanded them strictly no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

They just love the practicality of the Son of God. Kids are always hungry. Now obviously, on her deathbed, she couldn't probably eat or drink in the last part of her life. But you see, when somebody's hungry, what's the first sign that you're well? Is your hunger returns. And so the very first thing that happens to this girl is she's hungry, because she's not just been raised up, she's been completely whole by the words of God. And she's just hungry.

And he says, give her something to eat. I thank God for, with all of my heart, that I don't think, we didn't have to be put outside the house tonight to hear about a miracle. That we actually got to hear this.

We actually got to hear that today Jesus Christ is still speaking to people in pain, giving them the strength to rise up and praise him, and still telling people that they can still walk. And so tonight, no matter what anybody has said about you, and if he has to put them all out, if he has to put every voice that ridicules you out of wherever you are at present, God will do that. Because only one voice matters.

The ridiculing voices don't matter. All they can do is take away your heart of faith. But he'll put all those voices away from you. And if you will let him, he will push those other voices to the side, actually outside of your room, outside of your heart, outside of your house, and only his voice now matters. If he tells you you can walk, you can walk. If he tells you you can be free, you can be free. If he tells you that you're going to have a new life, you're going to have a new life.

If he tells you your marriage is going to be healed, it's going to be healed. If he says I'm going to give you a new mind, that's exactly what you're going to get. A new heart, you're going to get a new heart. A new spirit, you're going to have a new spirit. A new pathway, God's going to give you a new pathway. If he says I'm going to heal the wounds that are in your heart that have left you feeling like you're never going to be able to love or trust or live again, he will heal you just the way he said he's going to heal you.

He'll give you a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit, a new soul, a new future. That is the promise of God for you tonight. And so I'm challenging those that are listening to this prayer service tonight all over the world in over 200 countries. Whatever your situation, I want you to hear the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to you tonight. My son, my daughter, I want you to get up and walk. I want you to walk out of your captivity. I want you to walk away from your despair.

I want you to walk out of everything that would try to haunt you or hold you back or cause you to believe that you don't have a future. And I want you to walk towards my voice. I have the power to give you life. I have the power to give you strength. I have the power to give you a new journey. I have the power to triumph over your enemies. I have the power to bring down the walls of every enemy that has entrenched itself in that place of promise that I've given to you.

All I ask you to do is trust me. And when I speak, move towards what I speak to your heart. Praise be to God. The kingdom of God has always been a supernatural kingdom.

That kingdom of God is a supernatural kingdom. Jesus Christ calls the weak and the addicted and the foolish and the despised and the marginalized, and he gives us strength. He gives us wisdom. He cleanses us. He calls us his own and sets us in a place where our lives bear witness to his glory. This is the kingdom of God. This is what God's going to do in this generation.

I happen to believe in my heart that one last time, one last generation, the Lord Jesus is going to take the least of us, the ones that nobody ever thought could be used for his glory. And by his grace, like he did with Sarah, he's going to suddenly say, stand up and start praising me. Stand up and start giving me glory. Stop singing the blues and start singing the songs of Zion, the songs of victory, and you watch what I will do for you in your life in the days ahead. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against it.

A wall, a fighting force, a testimony, a light, living water, a city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. You and me walking together, the lame, the addicted, the afflicted, the blind, the struggling, the ones who the enemy tried to tell you don't have a future. We are the ones. There will be others, yes, as well.

But many of us, we are the ones that God will choose to use in this generation. Thank you for joining us this week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. For more information, log on to tsc.nyc. That's tsc.nyc. You can count on a powerful message each week on A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon.