Because You Prayed

I feel like the band should be playing Sting live as I come out on the platform after an introduction like that. You get Pastor Tim to do the dance, it goes along with that. Next time he invites me to speak here, assuming that there's going to be a next time after this. Praise God. You know, I remember the very first time David Wilkerson introduced me as his pastor. It was almost like it sent a shockwave through the audience as well as through me as well. And I was stunned by it, but he seemed to be quite okay with it. And how happy I am to introduce Pastor Tim DeLena as my pastor now and to be able to pass on that. I'm so happy. Thank God. Pastor Tim is a marvelous leader, marvelous leader, and took this church in a very, very difficult season and took it far beyond anything it's ever been before. It's now reaching into countries all over the world, and I do believe it's going to be on the increase in the days to come. Thank God for you, Pastor Tim. Thank God for your leadership. And I mean that. So it's awesome for me to be able to call you my pastor now and to be able to pass on to you. And over the years, well, first of all, let me just say that God is opening marvelous doors in our Ivy League colleges around the country. And after the Cornell meeting and the Yale meeting, then there's been invitations to go on campus in about at least, I think about six now, maybe more other Ivy League schools throughout the country. So we're meeting with the leadership this week, and we're going to start looking at seasons and times that we can do that. But I've never seen such a hunger in a young generation like this. And at Cornell in particular, one of the counselors there said to me, you're the very first speaker I've ever heard on this campus that didn't address these students cerebrally, in other words, come in with some new scientific evidence of the existence of God, which is what they're used to hearing. But you actually spoke to them right heart to heart, and they melted in the presence of God. There's no other way to describe it from indifference to interest to coming forward to the Holy Spirit coming down. There were students in a fetal position, literally on the floor. You didn't see that on the video. There was a football player when I came in the door, the guy was a mountain of a man, and I went over and shook his hand, and I said, ah, you must be a football player. He looked at me, and I don't remember his exact words, but it was like, so what of it? And I said, well, I hope you enjoy the meeting tonight. He was the one on his hands and knees that cried a puddle on the hardwood floor. And when I got up to speak, the Holy Spirit said, put your prepared message away. Just speak to these young people from your heart. And so they were sitting there with folded arms, expecting it to be another lecture. And when I said, I had a prepared message this evening, but I felt God telling me to put it away, and I want to speak to you. Then suddenly the arms unfolded, and everybody leaned forward on the chair, and I just shared the story of what God's done in my life. It wasn't complicated, it was simple, and just threw out the thought that have you ever considered that in spite of the fact that the world has given you everything that it has to offer you, have you ever thought that the plan of God for your life might be bigger than your own plan for yourself, or somebody else's plan that put you in this university? God has a plan so much bigger, beginning with the cross, and then moving into the plan of God in the open door he'll set before you. And when I gave an altar call, to my surprise, pretty well 200 of the 400 came forward, and then just God came down. And it burst into joy. Now Cornell is asking us to come back to do a multi-night event now on their campus, and I have no doubt there'd be anywhere from 500 to 1,000 students come out to this. One of the students who was there that night who hadn't been a believer as far as I understand has been, they told me he's going all over the campus, and said the next time they come he said, you gotta come, you gotta come, he said, best concert I've ever been to in my life. So, I mean just on that alone, they'll come. A lot of athletes came, a lot of young people already have a very secure future in a natural sense, but there's an emptiness in the heart. And we talked about that that night, you know, how unfulfilling everything in this world is when your heart's still unoccupied with a living relationship with God. So please pray for us. It's an amazing life, Pastor Tim, it really is, because I've never been qualified to do anything I do, and it just makes it really more exciting, you know. I would never choose me to go into Ivy League colleges to speak, I just wouldn't, that resume just doesn't match, you know. But nevertheless, God knows what he's doing. I have a word that's been sitting on me so heavy this week that it's almost consuming my thinking, I can't escape it. And I know over the course of years, when the Lord does that, he's speaking to me prophetically about something he wants to do. I'll give you an example of that. Prior to 2001, the year 2001, the Lord burdened my heart in the month of April slash May, right in that season, that there was going to be a crisis in New York City, and we needed to prepare the church to face this crisis. People over here at that time know this to be true. We began to meet on a regular basis, we began to pray, and the Lord said, bring the people to a place of understanding that there's grace to find strength to be able to help right now. If they'll come to the throne, I'm willing to help them now. We didn't know what it was, although I had a picture in my mind of people running in the streets, terrified, and did actually tell the congregation that, and that was in spring of 2001. So when 9-11 came, we knew what it was all about, because we'd been forewarned by the Spirit of God. In a casual conversation one day, the Lord showed me Pastor David Wilkerson beginning to travel all over the world, and I leaned over to him in a service. I said, Brother Dave, you're going to be going all through the world, and you're going to be speaking to pastors everywhere, and I had a vision in my heart of God raising up pastors who are discouraged as you begin to speak to them. And he leaned over to me, as only David Wilkerson could do if any of you knew him, and said, well, the Lord hasn't spoken that to me, you know, so I said, well, I'm only telling you, this isn't a service, you know, I'm only telling you what he's shown me. Just several months later, he began the journey to 58 countries, I believe it was, and spoke to tens if not hundreds of thousands of pastors throughout the world. He called it his Elijah Tour, just confirming the ministry and lifting them up. And then around, somewhere around 2010, I was welcoming this young pastor to New York City, and sitting in Gallagher's Restaurant, and across at the table, and as he's sharing his heart about what his vision was for the future, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, he's not going to do what he thinks he's going to do, he's your replacement. And that was Pastor Tim Delina. That was almost ten years before he came to this church, so I knew a decade before he came that he was going to be my replacement, and that only God could orchestrate all of those details. And there's other things like that. Now, the reason I'm telling you this is because I have a word that is somewhat like this. I have a word that is, you would call it prophetic, it's something that God's speaking to my heart, and he's speaking it to my heart about you, about this church. But not just the church building, not just the church ministry, but actually you. God's about to do something astounding in our generation. This church was placed here 35 years ago by the Spirit of God, in Times Square, for a specific purpose. Lord Jesus Christ told David Wilkerson this church was going to be a lighthouse. When the world started to get darker, the beam from this house was going to go farther. The darker it got, the farther the beam was going to go. I believe there were 60 countries represented this morning in this morning's service. The beam from this church is already starting to go out. But also, when the lighthouse sends its beam out in the storm, the people who see the beam come back. So it's a two-way journey. The message goes out, but the people actually come back in, online as well. And I do believe we're going to see a season. I don't know what's going to cause it, maybe it's just sovereignly God, I have no idea. But I do have a sense in my heart that there are going to be an uncountable number of people coming in online to see what God is doing here. And that's where you come in. It's not just about the worship, and it's not just about the preaching, and both are wonderful. It also includes you, the congregation who attend this church. Because the point being, when the beam reaches people in various parts of the world, and calamity and crisis has hit almost globally, or the day is becoming so lawless that people are starting to despair, when they come in, I personally believe they're going to see a God-gripped people one more time. A people who are growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. A people who have reached out, not in their strength, but in their weakness. A people who are being empowered by the Spirit of God to become other than what they used to be. This new life in Christ, this new birth in Christ, as Pastor Patrick shared during the communion, if anyone is in Christ, he or she becomes a new creation. The old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. It's one thing to know the Scripture, it's another thing to experience the power of that Scripture. That's given to us by the hand of God. By the same God that has the power to create a universe with His spoken word, is speaking these words. Yes, you might feel like you're still the old thing. You might feel like, God Almighty, how's my life ever going to make a difference? I'm just fighting to get out of depression, and despair, or former addictions, or broken relationships, bruised heart, whatever the situation is. But you see, the beauty of it all is it's not about you or about me, it's about the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within a willing heart that says, God, I'm willing. I'm willing. If you will open the door, I will go through it. If you will take me to where I can't go, I'm willing to put my feet one in front of the other, and I'm willing to take the journey that you've set before me. This is Times Square Church's moment. Now, we're not the only game in town or in the world, but we will fulfill what we are called to do as a church. This is a prophetic church. It was established prophetically for a divine purpose in Times Square for a season and a reason. You know, when God gave the vision, a lot of you weren't even born yet. That's 35 years ago, I don't know. Some of you were, but a lot of you weren't, and others were on a three-wheeler on the sidewalk when God gave the vision. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's a long, long time ago that God gave this vision. But he saw you, do you understand? He saw you. He has foreknowledge that's so far beyond us. He knew you would be here today. He knew what seat you would be sitting in. He knows all things. Nothing is hidden from him, and he foreknew that you would be the people through whom he would be glorified on a global scale in the last days, in the last moments of time. When people come back in through that beam from the lighthouse, they're going to see a church that is alive, not a show, oh no, but everyone a preacher, everyone pointing when they're singing, everybody with a testimony, everybody with a story, everybody, not in the same place on the journey, but everybody growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Psalm 119, if you go there, and I'm not going to preach on the whole thing, so don't get scared. Psalm 119, it's time for the Lord to act. It's time for the Lord to act. Father, I thank you, God. Oh Jesus Christ, by the power of your Holy Spirit, enable me to speak this. Enable our hearts, as feeble as they might be, to hear it. This is not about us, Lord. This is about you. It's not about what we can do for you. It's about what you have decided to do through us to bring your own name to glory. God give us the grace to hear today. Give us the grace to move towards this great truth. Give us the grace to allow you to glorify your name one more time. We give you praise and we give you glory for it, in Jesus' name. Psalm 119, beginning at verse 121, the psalmist says, I've done justice and righteousness. Do not leave me to my oppressors. In other words, he's saying I've done as best as I know how to do, but I'm now facing an opposition which threatens to overwhelm me. I've tried, God. I've tried to walk with you. I've tried to understand and comprehend and live in your truth. But God, I'm finding an oppression all around me. It's oppressive thought in society. It's oppression in the workplace. It's oppression in my mind coming after me at night. There's voices saying, who do you think you are? What makes you think your life is going to ever make a difference? How do you even have the thought that you're going to make it to the finish line when you're so utterly weak as you are? And he says, I've done the best I know how to do. Oh God, please don't give me over to this opposition which threatens to overwhelm me. Be surety, he says in verse 122, for your servant for good and do not let the proud oppress me. Now surety is when you're taking a loan for a car or a house, for example, and there's some doubt that you're going to have enough resource to pay the loan off, you get what's called a guarantor. It's a person, it's a friend that co-signs the loan. And when that person signs as a guarantor or under surety, they're saying, if my friend gets to the point where they no longer have the resource to finish the contract, I will take over. Hallelujah. And the psalmist knew this and he says, God, be surety for me, for good. In other words, co-sign my life. When my strength runs out, when I've made promises I can't keep, when I don't know how to go forward, when I find the opposition against me is too strong and I run out of gas, Lord, take over and begin to do what I can't do and be the supply in my life that I don't have. The next verse, he says, my eyes fail from seeking your salvation and your righteous word. He says, I've been searching for strength in you, which I've not yet fully discovered. I read about it, but I've not discovered the strength that you promised to those who belong to you. But God, I feel like the light in me is fading. Have you ever felt that way? You ever been in a place that everyone else is getting victory? What's wrong with me? Do I have the wrong end of the stick in this thing or something? No, everybody's the same as you. They're just not honest about it at times. Everybody's struggling. Everybody feels discouraged. Everybody feels like their life is amounting to zero. Their testimony is so utterly deficient. And he says, my eyes are failing, God. There is a power of salvation that's available, but God, I'm searching for it and I've not been able to find it. Deal with me or your servant according to your mercy and teach me your truth, your statutes. In other words, God, don't deal with me according as I deserve, but let it be mercy because the one thing I see in the scripture is mercy and teach me the right way to go. I am your servant. Give me understanding that I may know your testimonies. Then he finishes with this verse. It's time for you to act, oh Lord, for they've regarded your law as void. It's time, Lord, for you to act. It's time for you to do what only you can do because we're living in a generation that have literally spit in the face of Jesus one more time, just as they did in the days of the cross. We're living in a society that were given freedom to worship and have took that freedom and have tried to push God out of every facet of our society, have paraded evil as if it's good and talked about good as if it's evil. God almighty, we're living in a day that an argument is not going to win the day. It's not going to win the day. Lord, you've got to do what only you can do. Now, the beauty of it all is, now he could do it in the cosmos if he chooses to. He could send a 7.5 earthquake this afternoon if he wants to, to get our attention. He can do that. But you see, the way God works is through people, through his church. So the psalmist is saying, God, it's time for you to do something beyond me. Now, he has no idea as he's writing his lament that God's already answering his prayer because how many countless hundreds of millions of people have read this psalm over the years and have been encouraged by its words. Even before you finish your prayer, the answer from God is already on its way. He's already doing something in your life even when you don't see it. So the point being is God has chosen to manifest his glory through us, people. Ordinary, failing, struggling. I don't get it sometimes. If I was God, I wouldn't choose me. Can you imagine? You know, Pastor Tim, we get up and we talk about the fatherhood of God, the glory. We don't have a clue what we're talking about. Can you imagine when we finally one day stand at the throne of God and go, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Just like Isaiah did. He said, I preached about you, but now I've seen you. And I realize my speech has been corrupt. I didn't know one one-thousandth of what your glory looks like. And I was trying to describe you having never fully seen you or understood you. But yet God in his mercy sends us out to talk about who he is. Infinite God, always existed, created the universe by the word of his mouth. God, almighty God, sends you and me out to talk about him. You talk about mercy. If there's any other evidence ever needed of mercy, I don't think it has to be beyond that. Look in the mirror when you get home saying, almighty God, you are so good and so merciful and so kind, so utterly humble that you would allow me to talk about you to other people and to be the vessel through whom you choose to glorify your name. And so the psalmist is saying, God, I've tried. We've tried. But all we are is a struggling argument. It's time for you, Lord, now to take over. It's time for you to do in me or in us what we cannot do with any amount of human strength. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 2, verses 1 to 5, he says, I, brethren, when I came to you, I did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. In other words, I didn't come trying to impress you with a human argument. Let's put it that way. I didn't come letting you be drawn to who I am or the natural wisdom and strength that Paul actually had. Paul was a born leader. You know that from even before he got saved. He could lead people. He had achieved a great notoriety even in the religious circle of his day. But as he's standing there before the people, he says, I didn't come to you with excellence of speech or wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In other words, I don't want to present anything to you but the power and mercy of God and His willingness to take any vessel that turns to Him. It's not our strength. It's not our knowledge. It's not our abilities. It's the Spirit of God in us that makes the difference, that makes us into what God's calling us to be, takes us where we need to go, and gives us what we need to possess when we get there. You know, the preceding verses, for example, he said to the same people, he said, You see your calling, brethren. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called. That means some are, but not many. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame things which are mighty. And base things, that means things at the bottom of the world, and things which are despised, God has chosen. And things which are nothing to bring to nothing, things that are that no flesh should glory in His presence. The scale of usability in the kingdom of God starts at foolish and ends at nothing. If you're somewhere between foolish and nothing, you are God's choice to represent Him in this generation. Praise be to God. That's amazing when you see it. Not many mighty, not many noble. So Paul now is saying, when I came to you, I didn't give you a counter presentation to that. Now, Paul obviously was brilliant. He had a brilliant theological mind. I mean, he wrote things that the Apostle Peter said are hard to be understood. He was drawn by the Spirit of God into the third heaven. Anybody else? Oh, no, I was going to say, has anybody else ever been there? And I know that hands would be raised, so I'm not going to say it. You know, you thought you were in the third heaven, okay? You weren't. I'll tell you that straight out. When I came to you, I didn't come with excellence of speech or wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. And Paul was not naturally weak or fearful or trembling. I feel that the trembling in Paul was, God, please don't let anything of me present itself. I don't want to stand before the people and have them walk away saying, look at Paul. Isn't Paul wonderful? Isn't Paul such a… I want them to see you, Jesus. I don't want them to see me. He said, in my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. I wanted you to see my weakness, Paul said, so that you could see through me the power of God. I wanted you to understand something. It's not by might. It's not by power, human might or human power. It's by the Spirit of God that we become everything that God has called us to be. First Thessalonians 1.5, Paul says, our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power. In essence, you and I are the show and tell of this generation. This generation are not going to read the Bible. You are the Bible they're going to read. You are the living testimony of God. We have a New Testament or a New Testimony or a New Covenant of God here, but they're not going to read it. Most don't even care and a lot don't have the attention span to even read far enough to comprehend it, but they're going to look at you and they're going to look at me. And if we will allow the Spirit of God to do a work in us, they will walk away saying only God could have changed that person like that. That's what I did at Cornell. I got up and told my story. That's all I did. I told my story. I've probably told it hundreds of times and then I gave an altar call and the young people melted because finally somebody told them how this works. What can your life look like? What does forgiveness from sin, what does that feel like? What does walking in the power of God look like? You are the only Bible that this generation is going to read. Listen to the words of the aged psalmist in Psalm 71, verses 16 to 18. He says, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of your righteousness of yours only. I'll not boast in myself. I'll not, as a matter of fact, I'll, as Paul said, I'll talk of my weaknesses so that your strength might be made manifest. It's not going to be about me, Lord. It's going to be about you. I will only speak about your righteousness, yours only. Oh God, he says, you've taught me from my youth and to this day I declare your wondrous works. Now also when I'm old and gray headed, oh God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to everyone who is to come. Until I've shown in the original King James, God, don't take your hand off me. This is my prayer now. At 70 years of age, I said, God, don't take your hand off me until I've shown the next generation your power. Not just talked about it, but shown them your power. A demonstration in a sense through a surrendered life of who God is and giving the glory to God. As Paul said, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. It's amazing. The one instructor said, you're the first speaker that has not cerebrally spoken to these students that I've ever seen in this chapel. Everybody comes in and they always present some new scientific evidence about the existence of God to a young group of people who have never encountered any kind of a living Christ. They've never seen what that looks like. I will declare it to this next generation. In other words, I'll make it known. I'll sell it. Actually, one of the definitions means to celebrate God or celebrate the strength of God with praise. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. What a wonderful thing it is to stand before a new generation and say, this is real, folks. The power of God is real. I shared this morning. I said, look, I've had an amazing journey. I've been to all good parts of the world. I've spoken in places that I never could have gone to without the anointing of God's Holy Spirit or the call of God. It's been an amazing journey. Either that or I'm in a coma. None of you exist, so I mean either way. It's been an amazing journey either way. But it's time again for God to show his power. Through you and through me to this generation. It's time again for God to show his power through us to our families. It's time again for God to show his power even to those who oppose us. Listen, we're living in an age now where this concept of your truth and my truth has begun to be accepted virtually throughout all of society. Well, that's your truth, but my truth says this. But there is a truth above all truth, and the evidence is in the transformation of our lives by the inward dwelling of God's Holy Spirit. So I shared yesterday for some—I was speaking to some pastors. I said it's time to—enough talk. It's time for God to work. It's time for the Lord to do now through us what only God can do. And what does he require of me? Do I need a degree? Yes, I should study the Scriptures, and I should show myself approved as Paul said to Timothy. I should rightly divide the word of God so I won't be triumphed in front of my enemies. Yes, I need to do that. But I need—God needs vessels through whom he can visibly show his power, visibly show his strength, and we don't need a diploma to do that. It's nice to have one. We don't need it. We need an open heart. Listen to me on this. We need an open heart. We need an Isaiah chapter 6 moment. If nobody else is speaking, there's somebody in the back of the room says, well, I'll go. If nobody else will, I'll go. And that young man headed down to a very rebellious generation, and God gave him a literally panoramic view of the whole plan of salvation right through to the cross and beyond the cross into the kingdom of God. Amazing what God gave that young man. But before he gave it to him, he had to acknowledge his unworthiness. He had to acknowledge his corruption. He had to acknowledge, I don't even belong here, but then he had to acknowledge the mercy of God. God could have sent any one of those angelic beings and the people probably would have stopped and listened. If something with six wings appeared here, I'd probably be inclined to listen to it for a moment. But Isaiah is the only one in the whole scene that was corrupt in his own sight, but he's also the only one that volunteered to go. And today we still talk about him. Today we still read his words. Today his words are still used, even at Christmas time, to point to the place of the birth of the Son of God. Amazing what God will do through a surrendered heart. We don't need any other credential other than we have experienced the mercy of God and there's a willingness in our hearts to go where God calls us to go and let him make us into what he wants us to be and give us what we need to possess. So you ask me, how? Well, how is that going to happen in my life? Luke chapter 11. I'm going to start at verse 5. Jesus told them, which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight and say, friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to be on his journey and I have nothing to set before him. Now, Jesus is always teaching a principle. In this scenario, somebody comes at the midnight hour to a man's door like people are going to come in from all around the world into this sanctuary as well as every one of us in our daily lives. The same thing's going to happen. One on a larger scale, the other on a smaller scale. But as the days get darker, this is midnight now, this is the darkest part of the night. Somebody comes knocking on this man's door. He's hungry, just as these young people in our Ivy League schools are hungry. And he acknowledges, I don't have what is needed for him at this time, but I know that you do. My cupboard is empty, but your cupboard, God, is full. And so he comes at midnight and he says, I need three loaves. And I used to be curious about that because three loaves, I mean, how many loaves of bread can you eat at midnight? It must have been a big guy that showed up at the door to need three loaves of bread to fill him up. No, I think it's a type, it's a type of you and I knocking on heaven's door at this midnight hour that we're now living in and saying, God, I need three things. I need the compassion of God the Father. I need the compassion. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten. I need that compassion to be able to be given for this generation. I need the courage and conviction of the Son of God that in spite of the depth of the battle he went to the cross, despised the shame, and is now sat down at the right hand of God. I need that in my life, God. And I need the power of your Holy Spirit. I need compassion, conviction, courage, and power. So God, it's midnight. People are coming to me now or they will be coming very shortly, and I don't have what I need to set before them. I don't have a life that can feed them at the moment. I have some truth, but I don't have the life that bears witness. So God, I'm knocking on your door and I'm saying, you've got to give me what I need to face this generation. And he will answer from within and say, don't trouble me. The door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. I say to you, that's the words of Jesus, though he will not rise and give him because he's his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many loaves as it is as he needs. Isn't that amazing? Because of his persistence. I'm not going away until you give me what you have for me. I'm not going away. You know, God's going to do something because you've chosen to pray. Thank God, Pastor Tim, you're leading this church in the way of understanding the necessity of prayer. This is the type right in this story of the persistence of going to God and saying, I'm not satisfied with an empty cupboard when it's midnight and there are people that are starving to death. God, I need what you have for me. Didn't you say when you rose from the dead, you took captivity captive and gave gifts unto men? I need the gifts that you said you have for me. Didn't you say, whatever I ask believing, if I pray according to your will, I shall receive? So God, I'm not going away because you said that. You said that. You didn't make that up. And you didn't put a little star and say, except for, except for Carter Conner, except for Tim Delena, except for Frank Johnson, whatever your name is here today, there's no exception clause. Whoever asks, believing shall receive. Whoever asks, that means you and you and you and you, whoever asks, believing shall receive. Whatever you need to do, everything God's called you to be and to be everything God's called you to be. So I say to you, ask and it will be given you. Like, don't make it complicated. Ask. You don't have to ask in King James English. You don't have to, you don't have to say 1500 father gods when you pray. Do you understand what I'm saying? Just ask. And just be honest. Go, go to your room tonight and say, God, I'm starving and I have nothing to give to anybody else. I'm weak. And yet you promised it through me, your strength is going to be made known to this generation. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks, receives. There are no exceptions here. Everyone. Everyone who says, God, I need what you have for me. I need strength beyond my own. My resources are insufficient. I can't make the journey because my resources are too mediocre. I can't do it. I don't have the strength. I don't have the willpower. I don't have the conviction. I'm such a lousy witness. God, I need the strength that only you can give me. Everyone who asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be open. Oh God, I don't know about you, but I'm asking and I'm seeking and I'm knocking right now. And I've been, I've been around a long time and I've done a lot of things, but that's in the past. Thank God for the past, but it's gone. I'm going into the future. I'm going to be standing in places I've never been before. And I need what God has. If a son asked for bread, he said, well, any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asked for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? If he asked for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, that is in comparison to God, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? How much more? I'm done just talking about God. I want God to talk through me about himself. Isn't that what happened on the day of Pentecost? 5,000 people or so are coming home from the temple where, where scripture has been read and people have talked about God and it's all been true. It's amazing. They talked about the history, they celebrated the history, they read the stuff from the probably Isaiah and Pentateuch and all this, these scriptures. And so they're coming home and they all had information about God, but they ran into 120 people that God was speaking through. What a difference. And those people were speaking to them in languages they understood about the miracle working power of God, about the things that God had done, is doing, and is preparing to do. They were gone into a whole other realm where they're empowered by the Spirit of God to do things that they'd never been able to do before. You see, that's the origin of the church. Why should it be less in our generation than what the church began as? Why do we settle for just gimmicks and strategies and all that other stuff? As good as some of it may have been, but it's had its day. There was a day when Saul's armor was not sufficient anymore. There was a voice rising every morning saying, you will serve us, you will serve us, you will serve us. And that's exactly where we are today. It requires something deeper than just strategy, deeper than just armor and such like. It required a young man who knew the voice of God, knew the Spirit of God, and was compelled to move because of the honor of God. Now, this I have is for you, Times Square Church. From my heart to yours, may I put it that way, or may I say from God's heart to yours, it's Revelation chapter 3 and verse 8, a church called Philadelphia. If I were writing this, I would say to the angel of the church in New York City, right? Or might I say to the angel of Times Square Church? The angel, of course, is the pastor, the messenger that God has sent to bring the word of God. These things says, he who is holy, who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens. They tried to keep those iron gates shut of our Ivy League schools for years and years and years and suddenly they're just opening. How do you think that is happening? They can't hold back against the onslaught of God. He said, no, these young people are going to hear truth and you're not going to be able to stop it. I know your work, she says in verse 8. See, I've set before you an open door and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength, you've kept my word and have not denied my name. Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they're Jews and are not, but lie. Indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet to know that I have loved you. Everyone who has their own form of truth, everyone who has their own form of truth even wrapped in its own powerless or false religion. God says, I'm going to do something so powerful in you and through you that I will make them to come. Now they're going to come in online in this case, not necessarily physically here, but they will come and bow and have to acknowledge that I have loved you. I have loved you. They will see something again in this generation that is not available through man made or man strengthened religion. It's not available. They'll see a people God gripped. They'll see a people one more time speaking about things that God has done, God is doing and God is preparing to do, speaking about it with authority, speaking about it with that initial evidence of the transformed life, the first gifting. In some cases here today, don't expect to go all the way to the end before you come to the beginning. You start with that first gifting that God gives you, that first launching in a sense into a supernatural life, that yielding to the spirit of God and to what his plan for your life is. And then he gives another promise. He says, because you've kept my commandment to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial, which will come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. You know, that hasn't happened yet. It's amazing. It's given to the church of Philadelphia, but there's been trial throughout the world, but there's not been trial that has tried the whole world at the same time. He said, I'll keep you from that trial. Now it doesn't mean you won't go through it. We went through 9-11 here as a church, but we went through with a peace that passes all understanding. We went through with a bounce in our step. We went through with provision in our hands. We went through with a word in our hearts. We went through with the assurance of God. And I lived in this pulpit to see so many people coming to Christ, Pastor Tim. I remember one Tuesday, they were kneeling in the aisles all the way into the lobby. And I had to ask people to stop kneeling in the aisles because they were creating a fire hazard in this church. So many people came to Christ, we couldn't even count them. But we were not thrown. We were ready because God had spoken to us and we were capped from that hour of trial. Not from going through it, but from its power to overcome us. And there's an hour of trial that's already come to this world. It's going to get deeper and darker as the days progress before us. But I'm going to do something so powerful in you, the Lord says. And I'm going to do it because you prayed. Not that you deserve it. Not that we're any better than anybody else. But you saw it and you prayed. And you said, God, I need what you want to give me to make a difference in my generation. Thank you, Pastor Tim, for preaching the series on prayer. This church was birthed in prayer. David Wilkerson was out on Broadway. He's out on Broadway saying, God, something has to be done. About the debauchery in this part of the city. And the Lord spoke to him, you do it. And he told David Wilkerson, he said, if you will obey me, I will give you a building that will take your breath away. Here we are. And I've always contended in this building that God put that crown up there for a reason. He knew who was going to be the king of this building. He knew what this building was being built for. And there's two French scriptures up in the ceiling. If you get a chance sometime, you can read them in the little circles. And one says, tell me today, it's French. It means, what a master. And the other one says, to say nothing is means to agree. We're not called to say nothing. We're called to be a testimony in this generation. We're called to stand for Christ. God knew. God knew the signs are everywhere, what this building was going to represent. God knew the Times Square Church was going to be here. God knew this world was going to spiral into a darkness, perhaps deeper than anything ever seen, at least in the world in totality at one time. But God also knew that there was going to be a beam coming from a lighthouse. D.L. Moody was preaching one time, and it was, I don't know the details, but you could probably research it and find it. He was preaching about a lighthouse that was on a shore here in the United States, and it was on a particular coast. And there was a man who was in charge of lighting the lower lights, it's called. The lighthouse would call the people to a safe harbor in a storm, but the lower lights would show the way in the channel to the safe harbor. And one night, the keeper of the lower lights, he looked out, the stars were out, it was a calm night. And it was a big hassle to light all these lights on both sides of this channel, and he thought, well, this is going to be a nice night tonight. So he just didn't light them, and he went home. And that night, in the middle of the night, a huge, huge storm came up, and a ship in the middle of the storm saw the lighthouse and headed towards the lighthouse, but the lower lights weren't lit. And trying to make the harbor, the ship crashed into the rocks, and all, I think it was a hundred and something sailors drowned. Because of one man's neglect, he neglected to light the lower lights. And realistically, the beam that goes from this lighthouse is going to draw a lot of people into a safe harbor, but the lower lights have to be burning as well. That's you, and that's me. We have to be alive in God. We're not here just watching a show. We are here for God to demonstrate His mercy and compassion through each of our lives. So there was a songwriter in that service, and he went home, and he sat down wherever he sat down. You know, I don't want to embellish the story. I don't know where he sat down. He went home, and he wrote a song, and it goes like this. Brightly beams our Father's mercy from His lighthouse evermore. But to us, He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. Let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the way. Some poor, fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save. Dark the night of sin has settled. Loud the angry billows roar. Eager souls are waiting, watching for the lights along the shore. Let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the way. Some poor, fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save. Trim your feeble lap, my brother. Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed, trying now to make the harbor. In the darkness may he be lost. Let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the way. Some poor, fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save. Sing that again. Let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the way. Some poor, fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save. It's time to ask. It's time to seek. It's time to knock. We don't have a million tomorrows. Neither do others. But what a great, great call. What a great, great privilege. That for whatever season we have ahead of us, that people could come in to this sanctuary from around the world and just see you and I absolutely on fire for God, burning bright. And people look in and say, well, I don't know whatever they got. I want it. That's what happened on the day of Pentecost. They're coming back from the temple with a belly full of religion. And they ran into a bunch of people just ignited by the Spirit of God and said, well, whatever they have, I don't have that. And I want that. That's what happened. That's what happened when I told my story in Cornell. Young people with bright minds and wonderful futures just said, God, whatever that guy's got or these musicians have, we want that. And they came and they melted in the presence of God. This is your time. This is your time. In my heart, I can't say for sure, but I feel it's pivotal in the next two years. This is your time. We don't know what's going to happen at the end of that, but what a glorious time to be burning bright for Christ. We're going to stand in just a moment. I'd like to give an altar call and give you an opportunity to receive Christ as your Savior, but also an opportunity to pray and say, God, I thank you. I want what you have for my life. I want the full journey. I want the giftings of the Holy Spirit. I want to make a difference. And when the camera flashes across, as we do, I've seen it online. I watch it often online and you see the camera and you might not be aware of it, but you're standing there and you're worshiping near the lower light that people need to see to find their way to the harbor. Praise be to God. I'm not going to sit there flat lined and with my lamp out in an hour like we're living in right now. Let's stand together and if that's you, come and meet me here at this altar. Just come. Slide out of your seat. Make your way here. Just come. Just come. God's going to give you what you ask for. Everyone. To Jesus. Take me. I. Father. Just ask you for. A touch of your Holy Spirit, God, that's beyond anything anyone here has ever known. All of us, myself included. God, lead us. Into that place of your power. Lead us into that place where your name is glorified to us. Not in our strength, but through our weakness. Oh, God, thank you. Thank you, Lord. We are the Bible. We are the Bible. This generation can read. And there's successes and failures in the Bible, so we don't have to be perfect. We're just honest and we're real and we're the Bible that people will read. The Bible that our families will read, our children will read, our friends, our brothers, our sisters, even our enemies will read about you through our lives. God, I pray for Times Square Church. And I thank you that I have lived long enough to see this moment. The moment that David Wilkerson and I talked about so many times. This is the moment. This is the hour. This is the season. God, thank you for what you're doing. And when people come in from around the world, may they not see just anything less than what you would have us to be. We want to lift our hands to you, even if it's just to say, forgive me. And thank you for your mercy. But oh, God, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being alive at this time. Thank you, God. There's not a greater hour in history to be alive than this one, because we're going to be here when you call for your church and bring us home, God. Until then, we're going to sing. We're going to dance. We're going to shout. We're going to clap. We're going to cry. We're going to pray. We're going to believe you, God Almighty. We're going to believe you, not just for ourselves, but for people that are coming in or sitting at home depressed and addicted and afflicted and persecuted and troubled. God, they're going to look in and they're going to see life. They're going to find a place they can come to to find help. Thank you for keeping these lower lights burning. Your presence will be real in every one of us, Lord. And thank you that we don't have to be strong in ourselves, God. You delight in taking us in our weakness and our nothingness, Lord, so that you become everything. Oh, Jesus Christ, hear the cry of every heart that's here. Hearts that should be here, but are still in their seat, God, hear every cry. And do what only you can do. Let there be a shout of glory in this house, God, such as we've never seen ever in 35 years. A shout of glory, a shout of grace, a shout of victory in this house, oh God. Let there be, Lord, a shout of victory. You know, if you're late coming into a room, and let's say a football game is on, or some other kind of a sport is on, and the whole crowd is shouting, your initial response is, who just scored? What happened here? You initially want to be drawn in because that kind of exuberance doesn't happen without a spectacular event having occurred. You understand? So they need to hear that. When people come in online, they need to hear that in your worship. They need to hear it in your response. They need to see it in the way you seek God. And people will look in and hear a shout and say, what just happened here? What happened here? What happened at Times Square Church? What are they shouting about? Who scored? Who went over the victory line? Oh, come on now. Hallelujah. Shout, shout, shout, shout the victory. Hallelujah.