March 8, 2020 – Pastor Carter Conlon – Times Square Church The Joy of Asking
now tonight i have a very simple word i
want to share with you and uh it’s a
long title though it’s here’s the title
of the word i know who you are
do you know who you will be
i know who you are
do you know who you will be if you go to
the book of john please chapter 1 and
we’re going to start there gospel of
john
chapter 1
and i’m going to pray first and i’m
going to start reading it verse 40 to 42
then verse 45 to 51 father i want to
thank you again tonight god
that every time we open your word
the promise is that the entrance of your
words
brings light
so tonight god would you would you just
help us
to open the door everyone who’s
listening
to open the door to allow your words to
enter our hearts and our minds
and our spirit and become part of our
fabric
help us lord to get beyond just learning
and to actually learn to begin to
experience you through the promises of
your word
god almighty
i thank you that you’re going to do
something profound and powerful tonight
i bring my life to you one more time and
ask you to take this little life and
just make the words that i speak bigger
than anything i am god help me
that i may in turn help somebody tonight
who’s listening
and i thank you for it
in jesus name
amen
i know who you are
do you know who you will be
i’m thinking i’m talking tonight to
people that i spend time throughout the
day reading the prayer requests that
come into times square church and it’s
time to pray.org and i
i look at them and everyone who writes
in you seem to be keenly aware
of who you are you’re depressed you’re
addicted
your family is
is disheveled
you’re struggling in your mind whatever
the situation is you’re fighting a
besetting sin you feel worthless you see
i know who you are just by by reading
uh the prayer requests that you send in
these this seems to be in some cases
it’s an all-consuming battle that’s
going on in your life it’s affecting
everything that you are and everything
that’s around you
but my question to you tonight
is do you know
who you will be now let me explain this
as we begin to read
john chapter 1
beginning at
verse 40.
one of the two who heard john speak
and followed him was andrew simon
peter’s brother
he first found his own brother simon and
said to him we found the messiah which
is translated to christ now this is
incredible i mean this this would be i
don’t know if there’s any other thing in
the world that would actually compare to
it we’ve we found the messiah this was
the promise for the people of god of
that season this is what they lived for
this was their all in all
it’s like somebody ran into the
sanctuary tonight and said jesus has
returned he’s in the parking lot it
would be
bad it would be that profound come out
and see him
and so
he brought him to jesus
now when jesus looked at him he said
you are
simon the son of jonah
you shall be
called cephas
which is translated
a stone
and so my point is real simple tonight
when we first encounter jesus we are
something but if we have an honest face
to face encounter with the son of god
the promise is that we shall be
something else
you you can’t have an encounter with
jesus and stay the same way you are
there is a change that happens inside
the heart
now let’s continue on verse 45.
now philip found nathanael and said to
him we have found him of whom moses and
the law and also the prophets wrote
jesus of nazareth the son of joseph
verse 46
and nathanael said to him can anything
good come out of nazareth
philip said to him come and see
jesus saw nathanael coming towards him
and said to him behold an israelite
indeed in whom is no deceit
nathanael said to him how do you know me
now nathanael obviously knew he was
essentially at his core an honest man
and he’s talking to the son of god now
says how’s it how do you know me
and jesus answered and said before
philip called you
when you were under the fig tree
i saw you
and i don’t i don’t understand the
fullness of that particular statement
something was something
was in the heart of nathanael when he
was under the fig tree as it was
that led him to an understanding that
only the son of god could have known
that i was there and what i was thinking
perhaps he felt all alone like some of
you are are feeling tonight that have
written in your prayer request and
you’re lonely maybe nathaniel just
felt alone and he was all by himself i
don’t know but the point is that even
though he might have been alone in that
place in his life jesus saw him
and i want you to know tonight those
that are online and you feel alone in
your room and your car and your home
your heart and your life
jesus sees you there
you’re not hidden from him
and he looks at you lovingly and he
looks at you longingly he’s always
wanted fellowship with you
verse 49 says nathanael answered and
said to him rabbi you are the son of god
you’re the king of israel we always like
to think that peter was the first one
who got that revelation it was actually
nathanael you remember when
after all the seasons of traveling and
seeing the dead rays and walking on
water he finally said to his disciples
who do you say that i am and peter said
you’re the christ you’re the son of the
living god and and we always say wow and
even jesus said only the father could
have revealed that to you but nathanael
had that revelation
way before peter and right in the
beginning that he was the son of god and
the king of israel why did he have that
revelation
he had it because he had a an honest
heart
and if you and i are willing to approach
the son of god with an honest heart
something happens to us
there’s an i7 anointing that is given to
us and we begin to see first of all who
it is that we are talking to
and jesus answered and said to him in
verse 50
because i said to you i saw you under
the fig tree do you believe
you will see greater things than these
and he said to him most assuredly i say
to you hereafter you will see heaven
open and the angels of god ascending and
descending upon the son of man in other
words you will begin to understand
the power that has been given to me the
access to the throne of god the power of
heaven that is in my hands and you will
begin to understand that i am
the son of god
i’m able to do anything that i say
i can do and i can do in you and through
you anything that you will open your
heart and let me do
there’s a there’s a vision there’s a
revelation that’s given to people who
don’t approach god with a deceitful
heart a deplicitous heart
the reason that so many sit and languish
in the church throughout the ages is
because many people come to christ with
terms and conditions or maybe a feigned
dedication may i put it that like i’m
all in but only you know in reality it’s
only to this point and no farther and
god knows it because there’s a there’s a
there’s a guile in the sense the
original king james says in israel in
whom there is no guile in other words no
crookedness
you’re not saying one thing and meaning
another you’re actually nathaniel you’re
an honest man and because you’re an
honest man i can speak to you and you
will in your heart
give an honest assessment
of the words that i speak before you
actually go
into the battle and begin to walk with
me and you will understand what i’m
saying you’ll understand where it is i’m
leading you to go and you will also see
the power the exceeding greatness of the
power that is available to those who
walk with me with an honest heart and a
truthful heart
now in the new testament second
corinthians chapter 5 and verse
17 one of my favorite verses in all of
the bible
it says therefore
if anyone is in christ
he is a new creation
old things have passed away
behold all things have become new if
christ has come to you
if you and i are willing to come to
christ with an honest heart this
incredible promise this is what actually
this is the promise that actually won me
to christ in the first place
over 40 years ago
when the person who was sharing christ
with me told me this verse that if you
open your heart to jesus christ
if you honestly receive him as your lord
and savior you will become
a new creation
you the old things that have had power
in your life the old things that have
governed your future the old things that
as
as we prayed for the old habits the old
things that can’t you can’t put away
will suddenly lose their power lose
their hold
and all things
inside of you will become new
you’ll be in effect born again you’ll be
given a new life
you’ll have a new future the promise
that was revealed to the prophets in the
old testament
is that god said i’ll give you a new
heart
a new mind and a new spirit
you’ll be born again the old things in
your life
will pass away
and all things will become new and i
remember thinking in my heart when that
was first shared with me at the age of
24 god is it possible
because i i seemingly can’t escape
the boundaries that are all around me
the boundaries that were placed around
me by other people
the boundaries that that i perceive
about my own life and and what it will
or won’t amount to
the things that i feel i can do the
things that i feel i can’t do the things
that are really defining my present
and and paving away a very
confusing way for my future is it
possible that i can actually become a
new creation
and i remember meditating on this and
thinking about it and then i went into
the gospel of john
and i read the gospel of john for myself
and i prayed this prayer i said jesus if
if this is true
if i can be forgiven and if i i can’t
have
a new future if i can be made into a
different person i don’t like the person
i’m becoming i don’t like the way i
treat others i don’t like the amount
that i’m drinking i don’t like the
thoughts in my mind
i i have a sense that i’m going on a
downward trajectory and it’s just going
to get worse in the future and i seem to
be powerless to change and powerless to
stop i’m i’m being dragged into this
darkness and i can’t stop myself from
going there
jesus could it be true that i could have
a new life
and i read the gospel of john as an
unsaved man and i said show me just show
me but i saw something when i read the
gospel of john
that this life
is contingent
on one condition that when i come to
christ as my savior i don’t play games
with him
i give him my whole heart as much as i’m
able i give him my whole life and i
receive his word as truth and the guide
for my life from this day forward i saw
something that nobody ever taught me i
read it in the word of god that not only
will jesus if i turn to him not only
would he wash away my my sin not only
would he guarantee me an eternity in
heaven
but his blood had purchased me and my
life was no longer my own i now belong
to the son of god and he had the right
to my future you see before my future
can change i have to give the rights to
my future to the son of god
that’s what it was about nathanael he
was an honest man and i had an honest
assessment in a sense of myself and came
to an honest conclusion about what was
required to experience the the fullness
in a sense of the salvation that god was
setting before me i read in the book of
john that not only would he come to give
me eternal life but he would give me an
abundant life he would give me a reason
to live on the earth he would take me
out of the mediocrity of my present
trajectory and give me something that
could not only satisfy my heart but
would bring glory to his name as well
and bring others out of darkness and
into the same freedom that i know
i knew my life would never be the same
again if i if i yielded to the son of
god my life would never be the same
again
and i remember stopping on the side of
the road may 12 1978 and here was my
prayer
oh jesus if what this man has told me is
the truth now this is the context of
having read the gospel of john and
having an understanding of what is
required if it’s true that i can be
forgiven and have a new life
then i open my heart and i invite you
into my life to be my lord and my savior
and that was it that was my prayer
i didn’t feel a thing a lot of people
talk about the fuzzies they get or
whatever it is when they pray
at that moment in their journey with
finding god then but i i didn’t feel a
thing nothing i i just put my car in
drive and i went to work i worked my
shift and i went home and i went to bed
not feeling any different but the next
morning as god lives the next morning
i woke up and when my feet touched the
floor
i knew i was a different man
something had happened
inside of my life if any man is in
christ
may i put it this way if christ is in
any man or woman
that person becomes a new creation
the old things in their life
are passed away behold all things have
become new the old path will try to hang
on for a little while the old path will
try to con convince you that it’s still
alive but it’s not it has passed away
it’s dead it no longer has the right
to your future and all things are become
new so how do we experience these all
things and these new things you know
sometimes we we want it we want it
immediately
and and as as peter did in the initially
at least he tried to he tried to do it
in his own strength he tried to follow
god in his own strength and and we do
that don’t we i did it
some of you online tonight you’re doing
it right now and others in the century
you tried that
and some go a long distance but
eventually we all failed because this
kingdom you can’t walk in this kingdom
by natural human strength or wisdom
it’s not by might it’s not by power
but it’s by my spirit says the lord
in first samuel chapter 10 i’m just
going to read it to you verses 5 to 7
now samuel saul has just been anointed
king he’s going to be the king over
israel and samuel the prophet speaking
for god
gives him a word about what will give
him the strength to become the man that
he’s called to be now we all know saul
didn’t quite walk this out the way he
should have but he was given every
opportunity to do this this was the
beginning of his his ministry as it was
verse 5 of first samuel chapter 10
he says
after that you shall come to the hill of
god where the philistine garrison is
and it will happen when you’ve come to
the city you will meet a group of
prophets coming down from the high place
with a stringed instrument a tambourine
a flute and a harp before them and they
will be prophesying well that’s that’s
in a sense what happened to you tonight
those that are listening online
you come into this prayer meeting and
you’ve got a guy with a guitar a
stringed instrument you’ve got somebody
else with a keyboard you got somebody
with a drum set and they’re playing and
they’re singing and now i’m prophesying
to you
about what god will do in your life if
you will yield your life to him so
you’re actually experiencing the same
thing that saul did
then the spirit of the lord will come
upon you
hallelujah you talk about why we say
stay and pray why we say open your heart
to god give up trying to win this battle
in your own strength give up trying to
get out of this prison let god open the
door and let you out
give up trying to be strong in your own
strength give up trying to formulate the
plans of your own life and and stretch
your hands out and yield your life to
the son of god who can’t and never will
fail you then he said the spirit of the
lord will come upon you this is why we
are believing that through these connect
and fellowship groups there’s going to
be a spiritual awakening in this
generation at least you know we will do
our part we’re not the only players in
town there’s other churches other places
other people praying and god’s going to
bring it all together in one and i’m i
see in my spirit homes igniting all over
the world
i see the fire of god burning not in big
buildings no longer in mega churches but
the fire of god burning in homes men and
women coming alive in god the young and
the old the rich the poor
prophesying that means speaking in
unison with god speaking the things that
god is speaking given an understanding
like nathanael of the work and the word
and the will and the ways of god and
seeing the incredible power that’s
available to walk in this newness of
life that we are called to in christ
jesus
the spirit of the lord will come upon
you and you will prophesy with them and
be turned into another man that’s
exactly what happened on the day of
pentecost the spirit of the lord came
upon 120
failures that had gathered in an upper
room and when they came out of the upper
room and went into the marketplace what
were they doing the spirit of the lord
had come upon them and they were
speaking in unison with god about the
wonderful works that god had done is
doing and is preparing to do
they were simply walking and speaking in
unison with god and they had this
incredible vision like nathanael of the
power of god and the ability of god
to do things that can’t be done by
ordinary men and women with any amount
of ordinary strength or natural wisdom
and let it be he says in verse 7 when
these signs come to you that you do as
occasion demands for god is with you and
when you have begun to prophesy when you
are in agreement with god when you are
believing that you are what god says you
are when you are believing that you’re
going where god says you’re going when
you’re believing that you have the power
to do what god says you will do
when all of these things come into your
life then as god leads you go through
that door
because god is now with you
the old things have passed away and all
things have become new i know what you
are but do you know what you will be
praise be to god
you will not be as you are when you open
your heart to jesus christ you will be
turned into another man another woman
young or old it doesn’t matter and you
will become the person that god intended
you to be right from the womb
hallelujah to the lamb of god glory
glory glory glory to the name of jesus
hallelujah hallelujah
so jesus encounters you or you encounter
him tonight and he says i know who you
are this is who you are but this is who
you will be
praise be to god
and the holy spirit will show you
he’ll guide you line by line brick by
brick step by step