Carter Conlon emphasizes the profound sorrow of Christ, as depicted in Isaiah 53, highlighting His rejection and suffering for humanity's sins. He reflects on the depth of God's love and the pain He feels for those who choose to remain in darkness despite His offer of salvation. Conlon urges listeners to recognize the significance of Christ's sacrifice and the healing available through Him, encouraging a response of faith and surrender. He passionately calls for individuals to come forward and accept the freedom and new life that Jesus offers, reminding them that the choice to embrace or reject this love is theirs to make.

I hope you believe that tonight, with all my heart. God can. Let's take it from there to God will. In your life, and mine before this evening is over, let's believe that God will. Isaiah chapter 53, please, in the Old Testament, if you'll turn there. Isaiah chapter 53. I want to speak to you this evening about understanding the sorrow of Christ. Understanding the sorrow of Christ. Father, I thank you, Lord, for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. I thank you, God, for the incredible depth of your love, your mercy and your power. And may it be fully realized tonight in this sanctuary. I'm asking you, Lord, to open every prison door, set every captive free. Give sight to every blinded eye, heal every bruised and wounded heart. Lord, do the work that only you can do. Sovereign, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. God, we dedicate this entire evening to you. I yield my body and my mind to you, Lord. And I'm asking, O God, above all, that your name be glorified. We thank you for it in Jesus' name. Isaiah 53, beginning at verse 3. Understanding the sorrow of Christ. Now this is Isaiah prophetically writing about Jesus Christ. Of course, who we know to be the Son of God who died for our sins. He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Now Isaiah has a prophetic view of Christ. We're going to take a look at that in measure in the New Testament. Isaiah described him. It's a strange thing that he didn't say a man of victory, a man of power, a man of presence. All of the things that God rightly is and could be. But instead he saw in the spirit a man of sorrows who was a friend of an inner and personal grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he's borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace. In other words what needed to be done so that we could be brought to peace was upon him. And with his stripes. That means the beating, the rejection, the cross. With his stripes we are healed. We are healed folks. We are healed. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ we are healed. Why a man of sorrow? What is it about? What is it in God that he revealed himself in the spirit to Isaiah as a man of sorrow? Now going way back to the beginning. We walk in Genesis 3 into the Garden of Eden. Scripture says it was in the cool of the evening. At the end of the day as it is. That God came down into the garden. And he was walking in that garden. And I was having a discussion with Pastor William about this today. And we were discussing the fact that in the original Hebrew text. The word walking, the way it is written has a context of pacing almost. He is in the garden. It is a father for example whose son or daughter is late getting home. And there is a sense of worry. Now he knows in his heart that his child has been up to no good. And is really just hoping that this child is going to come clean. And not come in the door with some kind of a phony covering. For what has really been going on. So when he comes down into the garden. He says Adam where are you? It is a father. It is not just a casual question as if God didn't know where Adam was. It is God calling out to his son. Knowing what had happened. Knowing he had disobeyed and touched what he shouldn't have touched. Knowing the death and depravity. Not only was it bringing into Adam's life and the life of his wife Eve. But all the subsequent offspring. Down through the ages. Thousands and hundreds of millions and billions of people would be born into the world. As the offspring of Adam and Eve. Which you and I are. And all of the pain. That which had been created closest to the heart of God would have to endure. God saw it all in a moment of time. He knew what the sin of disobedience had done. The death in a sense that had been unleashed upon the human race. We heard testimony of that tonight. Of what has happened to the human race because of the sin of Adam. Because we were now born with the tendency to sin. The scripture says as sparks fly upward. We are born to sin. You ever notice you don't have to teach a child how to be selfish? Or to lie? Or to say no? You ever notice you have to teach the opposite things? Because there's a sin nature in every child that's born into this world. Just like in you and I. He saw the loss. It's greater than anything you can understand or I can understand. Now many here tonight you've lost a child. You've lost a family member. You've lost a husband. You've lost a wife. You've lost somebody in your life that's been very important to you. And you can very well understand what sorrow is. You'd like to forget those feelings. But they do still come back from time to time. And you know exactly what that feels like. Now multiply that by six billion. Get an understanding maybe of what came into the heart of God that day. When he saw that which he had created in his own image for fellowship. Because he was a God of love. And this love of God that was in his heart for Adam and Eve. Is beyond any love you and I have ever known. It's beyond a love that you and I can express. We don't fully understand the depth of that love. We will one day. One day we're going to walk into the presence of perfect love. And if we do have such a thing as a crown. You can be sure it's coming off our heads by our own hands in a moment of time. When we see this incredible love that caused God to become a man. And walk this earth for 33 years. Suffer our struggles and then go to a cross. And pay a terrible price for the wrong things that we've done. What is this sorrow in the heart of God? And how do we see it in scriptures? I think of Luke chapter 4 verses 18 to 21. When Jesus got up in the temple that day. And he opened his heart really to his own fallen creation. People just like you and me. In a church setting of their time. Of course it was a little different. But it was a worship setting. And he stood up in the pulpit. Opened the scriptures and said the spirit of the Lord is upon me. In other words I'm here. I've come. It's the Messiah. I'm the son of God. I've come into your midst. And I've come to open your prison doors. I've come to heal your wounded hearts. I've come to give sight to your blinded eyes. I've come to have the treasure of heaven. Open to those who are living in every facet of poverty. I've come to give deliverance to the captives. And the good news is that this is the day of it. It's now. And anybody who wants freedom can have it. And think about the sorrow that must have come into his heart. But not only did the people he was speaking to fail to recognize their own peril. The place that they were in. How they were in abject poverty at every level really. And they were outside of the kingdom of God. Not only time but for eternity. Not only did they fail to recognize the love of God. But they both rejected it and violently resisted it. The scripture says the whole crowd rose up in anger. At the very manifestation of the love of God. And they took him to throw him off a hill. They took him to kill him right at that moment. The son of God. Come for the sins of the world. And they had taken him. Thank God they didn't succeed. To throw him off a hill. The scripture says he just walked right through the middle of them and went his way. But what do you think was in his heart? I feel that I'm on good ground to say he must have walked away with a measure of sorrow in his heart. A man of sorrows. And acquainted with grief. He came unto his own the scripture says. And his own received him not. He came unto people he passionately loved. That love that you and I can never scratch. We never understand it here in time. And he came to them for good and not for evil. For healing. And not for punishment. For deliverance and not for imprisonment. He came to them to give them everything that was in the heart of God. To give those that had lost their position with God because of sin. And they wanted to kill him for it. I see him walking in the temple in Matthew chapter 21 verses 12 to 14. And I think of another manifestation of sorrow can be anger. A righteous anger. I don't know about you. But when my daughter would be late getting home. By the time. Especially if a young man had taken her somewhere. By the time she comes through the door. After 15 minutes I'm not capable of rational conversation anymore. And I think of Jesus walking in the temple. And he looks at his children. And he sees a religious system that's abusing them. And he looks at the priests that are supposed to be bringing them to him. So that healing can begin to flow. And they are profiteering off of the failure and struggle of the people. And they've set up booths. And they're selling goats and doves and sheep. And it's their families that are doing it. Because it's an incredibly lucrative money making business. Ministering to the failures of people. And I don't think they really want them healed. I think they like the fact that they're sinning constantly. And living under condemnation. Because it's a great income. Considering they're selling sheep and doves and goats. And probably no farther than what would have been the rotunda. In a church like this today. And Jesus came in and the scripture. One of the gospels says he sat there. And he made a scourge of cords. And there's a sorrow in his heart. Because he'd come for the good of humanity. The temple was about people meeting God. And finding out that God is the one that they've been looking for all along. It's about men and women being restored to relationship with God. And he was watching a religious system. Robbing the people of that relationship with God. And the scripture says he overthrew the temples, the tables. And he threw out the doves and the sellers of goats. And he said it's written my father's house is supposed to be a house of prayer. But you've made it a den of thieves. All you're doing is profiteering from the failings of the people. And after he threw it all out. The scripture says in Matthew that the blind and the lame came to him and he healed them. Because that's what it was all about. That's why you have gathered here tonight in this temple. If you don't see a way out. Jesus is here to heal you tonight. Jesus is here to open your eyes and show you the way out. If you don't have the power to get up and walk out of your sin. He's here to give you the power. New legs as it is. A new heart. A new passion. New abilities to get up and get out of your sin. Into the life that he freely gives to those who come to him. John 11, 33 to 35. Lazarus was dead. And Jesus had spent a lot of time in Lazarus' house with his family. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. And Lazarus has been now in the grave for four days. And he comes on to this particular scene. And he's surrounded by unbelief. All the people there having come to the wrong conclusion. That even though they agreed he had come. They felt that death still had power over life. And Martha's quoting scripture but doesn't believe it. Mary who had been falling at his feet and listening to every word. Is now falling at his feet in accusation and unbelief. That he can do anything about death. The whole crowd sees him weep. The scripture says he groaned in the spirit. He groaned so audibly as it is or so profoundly. That the writer John took note of it to write it down. And then in John 11, 35. The scripture says Jesus wept. The people misunderstood it and said oh how he loved Lazarus. It wasn't about Lazarus. I believe he wept when he looked down through the quarters of time. And he saw multitudes were going to die in their sin. When they could have eternal life. Multitudes were going to make the wrong choice. And let the stone of death cover their hearts and cover their eyes and cover their future. When Christ himself was in their midst. With only one passion in his heart to call life out of death. I don't know if you can hear it tonight. But if you believe Jesus is here. You must believe he can call you out of every place of death. You must believe there's not a gravestone can hold you. I don't care how far deep and down you are. There's nowhere he can't reach. There's no bondage he can't break. He sorrowed, he sorrowed, he sorrowed, he wept. And I didn't have to know that he could see through time. Multitudes, multitudes, multitudes right down to this present moment in this present sanctuary. God forbid there's somebody here that you are in agreement that Christ is here. But you don't believe he can take you out of your situation. That's what he wept over. That's why he was a man of sorrows. Seeing the people through the ages that would just not believe that God was willing to do something miraculous in your life. I think in measure. When he said in Matthew 26, 38. My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Now he's going into Gethsemane and he says to his disciples. My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Now part of that sorrow went beyond the pain and the separation of the cross. That's why I've always preached that. That's why I've seen it. I've known it. There was a sorrow, of course, because he was going to be separated from his father and pay the price for our sin. And you and I can never, I can't preach it folks because I don't fully understand it. How does God separate himself from himself? He had never been separated from his father. There never had been. It's unfathomable. He had had no beginning, so it had never been. And now suddenly his father was going to withdraw his hand and turn his back on him. So there's a sorrow of the cross, but there was more to it than that. I think he went to a time when those who failed to understand the love of God would choose not to part ways with their sin. To a time when those who failed to understand the love of God would stay and live in wrong and dark places. A time when people would finally stand in the presence of the all-consuming love of God, only to be released forever to the place that they have freely chosen. My soul is sorrowful unto death. I'm going to the cross. I'm going to die. I'm going to pay the price for the sins of all humanity, because I passionately love all of those created in the image of God, and I want them back. But I see a time when there are people who are just like Adam. They chose a phony covering. They stayed and lived in the wrong places. They will not come clean with God. And they will finally stand in the presence of the all-consuming love of God, only to find out that heaven is not theirs. And folks, that's what's going to make hell hell one day for so many. Sinners are going to stand in the presence of God. And finally, everyone's eyes will be open. Everyone's ears will understand. Everyone's hearts will explode with an understanding of how much God loved you. How much He wanted to do in your life. How much freedom He wanted to give you. There will be an understanding of the love of God. It will be the purest thing you've ever seen and experienced in your entire life. You'll never have seen or experienced. And there'll be something in your heart that says, Oh God, I want to live in this presence forever. I want to dwell in the presence of God. I want to experience the love of God for eternity, only to find out that you already made the choice. When given the choice, you chose darkness. When given a chance at life, you chose the grave. When given a chance at freedom, you chose imprisonment. When given a chance for a clean mind, you chose to live in dirt instead. When given a chance to do right, you made the willful choice to do wrong. And tried to cover it all by coming to church. Tried to cover it all by singing a hymn or two on Tuesday night or Sunday morning. But never made the break from sin. Never came to freedom. Just stayed in the grave and sang, well, maybe this will be enough. Maybe just hearing his voice is good enough. Maybe I really don't have to get up and come out of this place of death and walk towards him. And then one day you stand and realize that, you see, he's not sending you to hell. You chose hell. You chose darkness. The choice was freely given. And it's freely given here, not there. Oh yes, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. But it will be too late for many. Everybody, everybody, everybody. Hitler will bend his knee and confess with his tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh yes, the most avowed atheists. The most avowed atheists in New York City will bend his knee and confess with his tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. A lot of people that wear religious garments in various occupations in the ministry will bend their knee and confess with their tongue, but it will be too late on that day. That's what makes hell, hell. Having been in the full presence of an indescribable love of God, and that's the last thing you know for eternity, and then it's gone. Only to be replaced with a darkness the Bible says is so thick you can touch it with your hands and feel it. An absence of light, an absence of comfort, an absence of hope. Not just for time, but forever. And the last memory, I believe, for those who end up there is having stood in the presence of the purest love, the purest love that can be found in the universe. Paul says it this way, I want to read it to you. Please don't turn it out for time's sake, let me just read it to you. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, here's what he says. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators. That's people who have sexual intercourse outside of marriage. And I'm talking about people with no conscience and don't really want to turn from this sin. Nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now this talks about people who can just continue in these practices, and others like them. But then Paul goes on to say, and such were some of you, but you are washed, you are sanctified. That means set apart. Remember Pastor Patrick spoke about that tonight. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Paul said, yes, some of you are like this, but you turn from it. You turn from your sin. You accepted the sacrifice of God's Son on the cross for your sin. You allowed the Holy Spirit to come into your life. And now you're being changed by the power of God. The things you used to do, you're no longer doing. God is taking away, as we heard this testimony tonight, all the things that were going on. And you heard about this incredible healing that comes into the heart when you and I make the choice to walk in truth with the Holy God. Now back in Isaiah 53, where we started, we go back to verse 3. It says, He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. Now think about this. Think about the people, the multitudes, whom that's going to be their testimony forever. We hid our faces from Him. He called to us, just as He called to Adam, but we hid our faces. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. We didn't consider Him valuable enough to step out of darkness and into the light of His love. We didn't really believe He was the Son of God and the only way to eternal life. And one worth giving our all to. We did not esteem Him. But we acknowledged Him and we would speak about Him from time to time. And if somebody said, do you believe Jesus is God? We would say yes. But we didn't esteem Him. Surely He's borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And I want you to think about this for those who reject the love of God. And with His stripes we could have been healed. And that's really what it boils down to in the end. There will be sung for eternity that that will be the lament. I could have been healed. I could have had my sin forgiven. I could have walked in newness of life. Heaven could have been mine. I now understand I couldn't have earned it because I've stood in His love. I now understand it was a free gift of God. I now understand all He required of me is to acknowledge my sin and step into the open. I now understand that He was willing to cover me. I understand now that He went to a cross and was beaten and bruised and despised and rejected and did it all for me. That I might be covered. That I might be cleaned. That I might be cleansed. That God could come and take up residence inside of my life and change me from the inside out. I now understand it. That because of the cross I could have been healed. He took all my punishment. He took all my penalty. He took all my past. He took all my failing. He took all my struggle. He took all my dirt. He took all everything I've ever done upon Him on the cross. And I could have been healed. Folks, don't go to hell when you're hearing a word like this tonight. Don't walk out of here in your sin when you can be free. Don't deal with the Christ of the universe casually and fail to understand He is God who came to the earth to redeem you from your sin. There's no other way to get to heaven but through Him. There's no other way out, folks. I am the way, truth, and life, Jesus said. And no one comes to the Father except through me. There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ. But there will be another group. You and me. If God allows, I'm going to speak this forever. I'm going to travel from galaxy to galaxy and go from creature to creature. Whatever exists in heaven. And I'm going to say, He was despised and rejected of men, but not of me. He was a man of sorrows, but I understood that sorrow was because He loved me and wanted me home. I did not hide my face from Him. I did not despise Him, and I did not lightly esteem Him. I opened my heart and said, Jesus, You are the Son of God. You died to pay the price for my sin. You have the legitimate right to my life. I chose to open my heart and invite Him in. And He came to me and He became my Lord and Savior. I came to the understanding that He had borne my griefs and carried my sorrows. I don't walk in sorrow anymore. I don't walk in grief anymore. And the things that I used to carry in my heart, they were griefs. The Lord says, You give that all to me. I took it all to the cross. Give it to me. Let me carry it for you. You're not meant to carry it anymore. I knew why God poured His wrath out on Him on the cross. I knew why He was afflicted. He was wounded for the wrong things I have done. He was bruised for my failings. And what needed to be done that I might be reconciled to God was put upon Him. And by His stripes, I am healed. That's my testimony for all of eternity. It's not about me. It's not about having gone to church. It's not about having pastored Times Square Church. By His stripes, I was healed. By His stripes. Like the Apostle Paul, I know in my heart tonight that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. No excuses are necessary when I stand before the throne of Almighty God. No plea bargaining to get into heaven. The price was paid. The garments were given. The sins were forgiven. I am God's and God is mine. The scripture says, today, if you can hear His voice, harden not your heart. If you can hear His voice. I remember in 1978, it was May 24th, I believe, or 12th, 1978. And a prayer came into my heart. I had been reading the Gospel of John. Somebody had been sharing these truths with me. And I remember saying in my car, Oh God Almighty, if this is true, if it's true. I wasn't completely convinced, but I said, Oh God, if it is, I open my heart in Jesus Christ. I invite you to come into my life and be my Savior. The Lord received that prayer. You know, a lot of people think I got to understand it all. I have to have everything lined up in a row and it has to be complete, full understanding before I make this step. Well, I didn't have a full understanding. But what I did know, I believed. And what I wasn't sure of, I wanted to believe. And God says, I take you at that. I remember going to work. Didn't feel much. Didn't feel different. Did my regular shift. I was a police officer at the time. And then I came home. The next morning I woke up. I sat on the edge of my bed and as God lives, I knew I was a different man. And I had, I didn't have a scripture verse to base that on. But I had an experience with God. He had come. He had taken me with the little bit of faith that I had. He had received that and he had come into my life. I felt different. I started thinking different. I desired different things. And I just knew I was a different man than the man who went to bed the night before. I was a different man. That's the only thing I can tell you. I was changed. The spirit of God had come into my life. God had received me. Then he began to draw and say, come walk with me. Walk through, out of every prison. Walk, walk out of pain. Walk out of your confusion. Walk away from selfishness. Walk away from the things that have gripped your life. I'll give you the power. You just get up and walk with me. And nothing of this world can hold you. I'll change you. And I'll put a song in your mouth. And I just, I haven't even read these things. I just knew it in my heart. You ask me how I know he lives. There's a song. He lives within my heart. That's how I know. I want to appeal tonight. Every man, every woman who's here. Young person. No matter where you come from. What your education is. Your background. The Lord Jesus Christ died for you. He will receive you. If you have the courage to get up and come to him. It's that simple. But you have to want to walk with him. This is not just, this is not one of those things where you come and somebody throws water on your forehead and everything is fine. You are giving your life to God. You're giving the rights to your life to God. You're giving your failures and your future to God. Everything is being given to God. You're making the choice to walk away from sin. Sin being practices that you know are wrong. Whether or not you know it from the Bible, you know it in your gut that it's wrong. And you're giving it to God and you're trusting him for the power to live a new life. That's what you're doing tonight. You're giving your life to Jesus Christ. I want to ask for some men in this sanctuary tonight who are willing to be men of courage in a generation that lightly esteems God. And you know that from your workplace. The only mention of him is to curse his name. That should be evidence enough that he's real. But I feel in my spirit that there's a call for mighty men tonight in this sanctuary. And there's a call for mighty women tonight. A generation that will rise up and say, I'm going with God. I'm coming back to Christ. I'm going to walk with God. I'm going to trust God for my future and to heal my past. And when my life is over, I'm not going to hell. I'm going to heaven. I'm going with God. I'm going with God all the way through this life. Lord Jesus, forgive me for having rejected your love for so long. But tonight, I know you love me. I know it, God. You love me. And I'm coming to you. And I'm going to believe you for my forgiveness and for my future. If that's you tonight, could you just raise your hand so I can see it everywhere? God bless you all over. Raise your hand up in the balcony. God bless you. I'm going to ask you to do something. It's going to take a little bit of courage tonight. But those who raised their hands, we're going to stand in a moment. Same for those that are in the annex tonight. And I'm going to ask you to come and just join me at this altar. We're going to pray together. And you may want to turn to a friend, somebody beside you who might want to come tonight, but they're afraid to do so. It's a little scary if you've never done this before. But just turn to somebody and say, look, if you want to go, I'll go with you. You won't be alone. And why don't you just do that as we stand? And I'm going to ask those who raised their hand, please come meet me here at this altar. And Jesus Christ is going to receive you. Let's do that right now. Balcony, go to either exit as we all stand. The main sanctuary, slip out of your seat. You raised your hand. Please come. You didn't raise your hand. You want to give your life to Christ. You come. God bless you, sir. God bless you. Awesome to see you here. Praise God. There's men coming and women. Mighty, mighty, mighty men and women of God. Praise God. Oh, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. Bless the Lord. Greg, lead us in some worship, if you will. Misty, rather. And let's just wait on those that are coming. Consider this in the balcony, please. In the annex, consider this. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. We're talking about heaven here tonight and forgiveness. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Those that have come to the altar, would you do something? Just raise your hands and surrender. It's just a position to surrender to God, but it's also a position that says, God, you are my Father and you're receiving me. You're not rejecting me. You're embracing me. You're not pushing me away. Pray these simple words with me. Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. I believe that you died on a cross in my place to pay the price in full for all the wrong things. That I have done. I believe. That tonight. You are willing. To forgive me. And receive me. As your child. Because you have a heart. That loves me. I respond to your love. And I thank you, God. For caring so much about me. Even when I didn't care. About you. I'm coming tonight. To give you the rest of my life. To allow you to be God. In me. And through me. Guide me. Teach me. Change me. Help me. To live a life. That will truly please your heart. Oh, Jesus. I thank you for receiving me. And forgiving me. Tonight. I believe. That my destiny. When I die. Is heaven. And not hell. I believe. That you will put a song in my heart. That will last forever. And it will begin tonight. I believe. At this very moment. You have received me. You have cleansed me. You have forgiven me. I am a child of God. From this day. And for the rest of my life. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord.