This sermon emphasizes the importance of unity and love among believers in reaching the lost in a world filled with darkness and tension. It highlights the need for Christians to love one another deeply, forgive, restore, and maintain unity as a powerful testimony to the world. The speaker urges the congregation to embrace unity and love as the key to penetrating the darkness and fulfilling the mission of sharing the Gospel.

I'm going to talk to you about reaching the lost in uncertain times, winning lost souls. I'm going to read to you from John 17, one verse, chapter 17, verse 21. Jesus said, that they may all be one, as thou father art in me and I in thee, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Now, this is a very powerful, all-reaching word from the Savior, that they all may be one, as thou father art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. Why? That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Father, speak from heaven through this vessel. Sanctify me for this moment, this hour. In Jesus' name, amen. Jesus never made exemption clauses in his promises. He didn't say, go out, reach the world, except in hard economic times. He didn't say, I'm Jehovah Jireh to you, except when everything seems to be shaking. He didn't say to us that the world is too hard, that the world is too bitter, that the world is too bound by lust to reach any more. So just hide away in a prayer closet and just ride out the storm. No, you see, God made provision that no matter what, you see, Holy Ghost is not bound by the economy. The economy has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit's work, has nothing to do with what's happening to the situation around us. In fact, Jesus said, when you see all these things come to pass, what? Look up and rejoice because your redemption draws nigh. And the church of Jesus Christ goes on. The church of Jesus Christ is still doing this mission work. The church of Jesus Christ is still feeding the poor. The church of Jesus Christ is still raising up missionaries going around the world. And folks, this has happened through past recessions and depressions. The work of God goes on. I said the work of God continues to go on. Let me tell you what we're up against. There is a gross darkness, the Bible says, in the last days. And there's a frustration everywhere you turn, everywhere you look now, and especially here in the city of New York. There's a frustration and there's, I heard a newsman say this past week, it's in an article, he said, it seems like someone pulled a switch and everything, all hell's broken loose. He was talking about morality and the morals and the spiritual condition of many people and how it's affected churches. And folks, let me tell you what we're up against and what I believe Jesus is telling us to do to penetrate this gross darkness. Folks, I think we're missing something. And this is so vital to those of Times Square Church, Pastor Carthus has laid on his heart, and not too long from now you'll be down in Times Square, but there has to be something that happens in our hearts and in this church, and it has to be something that we can't avoid and we have to deal with, allow the Holy Spirit to speak, and I'll speak it lovingly. But here's what we're up against in the darkness. You see, the Christ we preach is hated. Bible says they hate him without a cause. Here is Jesus coming as a humble servant. Jesus heals the sick, he opens blind eyes, he raises the dead, he comforts the comfortless, and he goes about doing good, and they hate him. There were 10,000 reasons why this man should be loved. There is no reason why this world would reject the love of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made at the cross. The God of mercy said he's not willing that anyone should perish. And in times like these people wonder where the love of God is. He's already demonstrated his love by sending his son, and he gets no pleasure out of the death of wicked people. He doesn't get any pleasure whatsoever, and he's still reaching out by his spirit, still wooing, still calling. But every generation has hated this Christ that we preach, and we're up against a darkness such as we, that this society has never had before. And here's what we're asked to do. Here's what a Christian who really loves Jesus is called to do. The scripture says they hated him because he came as a light. He said they love darkness, and the Bible says they love the sins. Those that are lost in the world without Christ, Bible says they hate the light because it exposes that which they love. And when we talk about we come to them, you see people all their life have tried to work out some way to get to heaven and get into the favor of God, and they say there may be an afterlife and I want to prepare. So they do good works, and they spend their lifetime in charity work. Thank God for that. We do that as Christians, but something to present to God when they die. And here we come as Christians and say you have to lay down the self-life. You have to lay down all your human efforts and simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And you're coming to take away from them what they have spent their lifetime building. You're coming and say you need this Christ, and we're saying there's a heaven, there's a place of eternal rest, and you can, but here's what you have to do. You have to forsake the world. Forsake the world? You're asking them to do something, and there's everything. In fact, you describe heaven to them, to those who love their sins, to those who are in darkness. Describe heaven, and they say that's hell. Our heaven is nothing to those who are going to be robbed of that which they spent their life in. And you go to somebody partying over here in some of these clubs, and you tell them about the peace, and the rest, and the joy of eternal life, and spending eternity doing the will of God, and praising Him, and perhaps working in worlds that we don't even know today. And you tell them about that, and the places of sin which they love. You are a robber, this is the kind of thing that we face. How do you penetrate the darkness? How do you penetrate? Now, thank God we do missionary work, but you see Scripture says, and this is the commandment, or this is the condemnation. Here's the reason why they hate Christ. Why is it that Christ is so hated? Why is it that society today so despises those who use the Bible as their moral compass? What is it in our society that they try to rule His name out? Remove commandments, you can't have a Bible in the classroom. What is this hatred? Why do those around you, though they might smile at you, I'm going to tell you, if you walk with Christ, the Bible says they're going to hate you just as they hated me, Jesus said. Jesus said this is the condemnation, or the reason for the hatred, that light has come into the world, and men love their darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds be discovered. Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You see, we're called to cast off the works of darkness, and you see, there's freedom in Jesus, and what will come back, if you listen closely, freedom. I've taken off every shackle of the Bible and all the laws, and there's a lawlessness in the land and the world today, and they say freedom, I've got freedom, I have God of my own choosing, and I do what I want, this body is mine, I can do with my body what I please, freedom, man, I've got freedom. I'm telling you what we are up against in getting this gospel and trying to penetrate the darkness. There is something that Jesus is trying to tell us. Jesus said, because I've chosen you, if you are of the world, the world would love his own, because you are not of this world, because I chose you, therefore the world's gonna hate you. Jesus said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. I don't care how many good deeds we do. Folks, this church and the ministry, World Challenge, that I've been involved in for the past 50 years, reaches around the world with charitable works and orphanages and feeding programs, but folks, that doesn't impress the world. So what? That does not get through, and the Bible makes it very clear, if you're trying to be, if you're trying to win the world by easing up the gospel and easing up the claims of the gospel and trying to bring people in a back door somewhere to Christ without the demands of the gospel, it's not going to work. What's going to happen? They'll come in the back door and be sitting in the front pew and take over the pulpit. I'm not being facetious. That's happening all over the world, but you're going to be hated. If you expect to be loved, you know, you should be nice because you're a Christian. You should be loving because you have Jesus in your heart, but I don't care how sweet you are. I don't care how much you're involved in church work or anything else. The Bible says, because you are the light. You don't even have to talk. You are light. You are the light. And he says, they're going to hate you, so please be at ease. Don't worry about it. Don't think that by being charitable, you're going to impress the world. It's happening in churches everywhere now, but folks, there's something that Jesus said that stirs my heart. Jesus said, Jesus, these are his last words. He's got his disciples together, and in his last words, he is still yearning after the lost. And he said, I'm going to give you a new commandment. And he said, if you obey this commandment, all men will know who you are. They'll know where you stand, and they may hate you, put you out of the synagogues and out of their presence. They may despise you. And so this new commandment that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Here's what Jesus is saying. You want to penetrate the darkness? Thank God for every method of evangelism that's birthed in the heart of God. Thank God for all missions, efforts. We've got to go to the ends of the world, and the church sends out. We're a send-out church, but there's something happening now in this world, unlike anything we've ever seen or heard. A darkness that can't be penetrated by methods. It can't be penetrated. And it all comes down to this, this church. This church was founded 22 years ago. There's over 100 nationalities now worshiping here together, 100 nationalities. And here's what's happening. It's happening on the media. It's happening, I mean, it's being spewed everywhere. Prejudice, hatred, disunity. It's just, all of those, whether my space, your space. I mean, I can't keep up with it. The devil has come down, the Bible said, having great wrath because he knows his time is short. And what he wants to do, he wants to get in this house and every true house of God and bring disunity, prejudice, racial tension. He wants to destroy from inside. Jesus said, I'm giving you a new commandment. He didn't give many instructions on how to do this. In other words, you go, but Lord, how do I do this? He said, I'll tell you what, I'm going to bring something new now. I'm going away, but you're going to be here, and this is what you need. You want to penetrate the darkness, you want to win the loss, you want to really get through to those who will listen to nothing else. Oh, folks, this word is powerful. This word, every time we give it and the Holy Spirit unctionizes it, anoints it, it penetrates. But he said, now I want to tell you something. In church, hear my heart. I read this. The Holy Spirit said, come to the pulpit this Sunday. And just lovingly bring this to the attention of my beloved people. He said, you're going to have to love one another as I've loved you. He said, this is the only way you're going to be able to penetrate it. Folks, love, he said, by this love for one another, verse 35, by this love for one another, all men should know that you're my disciples, that they may all be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me. Is there anything clearer in the world? To have a world out there that is frustrated and they see, folks, there are tensions rising, the pits of hell, the doors of hell. The Bible says, it calls them the gates, the powers of hell, the gates are being opened. And the devil is spewing out and walking in the midst of the world today. And there is a brewing sense of tension among people now who don't know Christ. Folks, I hear that word from Jesus. For 22 years, God has blessed this church because we have been a testimony out there, but we cannot go out on the streets and praise the Lord. We cannot worship. We cannot sit here. I have to be able to sit by you, stand by you and worship Jesus. Now I have to know that in my heart, I have nothing but love in my heart for you, that I've not allowed any politics to impress, to seep into my mind and my soul. I've not allowed all of these voices to impress my spirit. I've asked the Holy Spirit to know that I can stand there and if I die the next minute, if I drop dead of a heart attack, I know there's nothing in my soul. I know there's nothing in my heart. I don't love this man just because I need a black friend or I need a Puerto Rican friend or something like that. No, I'm one in Christ. I'm one in the body. And when we're one in Christ, one in Christ, that they may be one in Christ, that the world may know, that the world may see me. How can we do that? I'm not going to preach long. How do we do that? We love one another when we forgive those who sinned against us. When we truly forgive from the heart those who've hurt us. We love one another when we're reaching out to restore. Some brothers fallen, some sisters fallen, and we don't isolate ourselves from them. We don't back away and say, oh, he did this terrible thing or she did this terrible thing. But we reach out to them and put our arms around them and say, I'm praying for you. God still loves you and I still love you. And when the body reaches out like that to the fallen and when people see this love, folks, it's not something they can feel in their own human spirit. But there's something happens, Jesus said. There's something supernatural that happens. There is a testimony that goes out. There is a power that is emitted. I don't know how it works. And in these days ahead, you're going to be, you will feel so safe. You will feel so protected. And here's my plea. This is not some great homiletical message. This is my plea that you allow the Holy Spirit to dig deep into your spirit, deep into your heart. The devil like more than anything else to disturb what Jesus has raised up for this time. Years ago, before this church was started, I was on my knees in my office in Texas. It's when the Lord said, go to New York and start a church. And I wanted on Broadway. Now that was some kind of word. And the Lord said, you're going to warn, but you're going to find a people, a remnant, and they're going to be protected. And they're going to love one another. And I've lived to see that come to pass. I've lived to see God raise up holy pastors, holy elders from other race, from mixed races. And folks, if we lose that, the doors must be, we've lost our testimony. When we lose this unity, when we lose this. Folks, here's how important it is. It's the only way to have the blessing and favor of God in the days ahead. I'm not shouting at you. I'm speaking from the heart of God. If you want the blessing of God, you want the canopy of the Holy Spirit over you. And you want to know that God is going to hear you when you pray. You can't sit here with anything in your heart against any race, against any other person. You have to be free. All chains have to be broken. He said, where you have this love, where you have this unity, God said, I will command my blessing. And all these preachers, you hear how to get the blessing, how to get the blessing. God bless their heart. I don't want to go there, but He said, when we deal together in unity, I will command my blessing. I don't want anything to hinder my voice at the throne of God. I don't want anything in my heart. As far as I know it, searching under the Holy Spirit, I said, Lord, I'm open. If you feel and see the slightest seed being planted in me through news reports, through all these things that are hammering at us, the Bible said, the gates of hell, they're open now and they're spearing. The Bible says, they shall not prevail against my church, Jesus said. They shall not prevail against the church. We have in our power with this, I'm going to close. We have it in our power to stop the intrusion of anything that the devil would like to plant in the heart of anyone that makes this church their home. And I want to tell you something else. When there's unity in the body, anybody that comes in and tries to do that will be exposed by the Holy Spirit. They'll be exposed because you will stop them. You will say, that's not what this church is about. We don't do that here. We don't go there. If you want to talk about Jesus, you want to talk about loving one another, that's what we're all about. And amen? We're about loving one another and not just by hugging. You can hug and still put a dagger in somebody's back. I love these pastors. I love these elders. The choir, those aren't just words. It's something the Holy Spirit works in us. It's something you can do. It's something in your power, in your hands. Don't ask the Holy Spirit to help you unless you're willing to get some help. And when you're willing to say, Lord, I want to walk into church and I want to walk through the streets and I want to know I'm a free man, I'm a free woman, that I am one with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm under authority. And I love going, I love coming to Times Square Church. I said, do you? We're not glorifying this church. We're speaking a truth. And with this, I close. First Peter 4, 7 to 10. But the end of all things, this is Peter speaking, but the end of all things is at hand. Be you therefore sober and watch unto prayer and have all things, above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves. For charity shall cover multitude of sins. Use hospitality to one another without grudging. Peter says, the end of all things, folks, the end of the last days, the last of the last days has come. But folks, he's establishing his kingdom and you and I are part of that kingdom. And we should have that quiet confidence in the Lord now that all is right before the Lord. All malice, all bitterness, all of these things, no rights to carry your hurts, that, but in these last days, without grudging, hospitable, open, willing to hear, willing to listen, to be the hands of Jesus in the last days. Folks, I want you to stand. Will you ask the Holy Spirit is where in his presence now? I know it's very quiet in here, but usually when it gets quiet and there's still water, there's something going on down deep, something going deep in our hearts. You have been ministered to in love, no condemnation, no guilt. By this shall all men ye know my disciples. And he said, by this shall the world know. This is how to penetrate the gross darkness. Lord, I can't, there's no pastor, there's no one in this church that can bring about the unity that only you can bring, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, you've raved up a great testimony. And when we go out and pray publicly, we go out in Times Square, we have got to be one. There has to be total unity, pastors, elders, every worker, every member of the body to be one in Christ. And Lord, we can thank you for that. You will accomplish, you have accomplished it. And you have found a holy remnant, not just in this church, but there are other churches all over the city that have not given in to the spirit of this age. And they're not giving in to the prejudices, they're not giving in to the disunity or the malice. And Lord, you will command your blessing. Lord, no matter what happens to this city, there's going to be a shout in the house of God. There'll be a shout in our hearts because we know all is well. All is well with my soul. Hallelujah. Praise him right now. Hallelujah. There's nothing that pushes back the gates, that's the principles and powers of hell, and all the intrusive, and in fact, all the lies of the devil that come to pound on your mind. There's nothing that pushes back that flood tide like worship. And we're going to, we call this open, the front of the church, we call it altar area. It's just an open space. If you don't know Christ, if you've not received him as Lord and Savior, I invite you upstairs, downstairs, and even in Annas, you can come into this auditorium and just walk down an aisle with an open confession. No one will lay hands on you, no one will touch you, no one's going to say anything to you. This whole congregation will just pray for you. You can walk down and say, I'm not walking out of here until I have freedom in my soul. Just come down and you can be prayed for right here. And if you have drifted from Christ and want to renew your standing with Christ, you want to renew your hope, you're invited to come as well. Now, if you have to go in the next 15, 20 minutes, you're free to go, you're free to leave quietly. But I know many in this church like to stay in the presence of the Lord for a season and renew and invigorate their spirit. So we're going to worship, and if you have something you want to lay down before the Lord, you can do that and see where you're standing. You don't have to come forward for that. Lord, I pray now, and by your spirit, you bring hope. Lord, let everybody that walks out of this church today walk out with hope, with peace of mind, because even today while the message being preached, you dealt with them. And this issue now is placed before the Holy Spirit, and God will give strength and power to follow through in Jesus' name. God be praised. Let's just worship the Lord and give Him some time.