The Secret of Spiritual Power — Carter Conlon

I'm going to begin to speak today, the first perhaps in a series of messages that I think are going to dig deep into some issues of the heart. That's the way the Holy Spirit's been speaking to me all summer.

The Secret of Spiritual Power in Luke 22

Today I want to speak to you about the secret of spiritual power. Luke chapter 22, please, in the New Testament, the secret of spiritual power. Now, Father, I thank you with all my heart for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I thank you, God, and I'm asking you, Lord, for the grace to live this, this word that you've given my heart. And I do believe it was given to me first. I'm asking, Lord, for the grace to live it. I don't want to ever stand and preach something I'm not willing to live.

I ask you, God, with everything in me, that you overshadow the frailty of this human vessel. And that you give me the thoughts of heaven. That you cause your word to live. There has to be a cause, there has to be an explosion of faith in our hearts.

And that can only happen, Holy Spirit, when you cause this word to come alive to us. I pray, God, that people would not see a word as something to be resisted, but rather something to be embraced. For the life of God is in it.

And I thank you for it with all my heart. God Almighty, move us in the direction of these words. Move our hearts in the direction of these words. God, in a generation that is going so quickly away from you, help us to turn and go the other way.

Help us, Lord, not to be caught in the spirit of this age. Help us, O God. Help us, Father. I cry out to you unashamedly from my heart, God. And I'm asking for grace and strength, Lord. For not just my own life, but for this church, for this body.

Help us, God. Empower us, enable us, Lord, to go another way than the way that this whole world is going now. So quickly away from Christ. So deep into rebellion. So quickly away from all principles of godliness.

I pray, God, help us. Help us to understand. Help us to embrace. Help us to move in this direction. Help me to preach it, God. Lord, I can't speak it if you don't anoint me. It will fall to the ground.

It will have no effect. Lord, God, I'm asking you, quicken this word. Let it become the desire of my heart and the desire of the hearts of your people. Help us, Lord. We thank you for it. I praise you in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen. Luke chapter 22, the secret of spiritual power. Beginning at verse 24. Now, you have to understand, the context of this is the Last Supper. They're at the table. Jesus has broken the bread. He's given them the wine.

He's telling them he's about to be poured out, betrayed into the hands of sinners, given for humanity. And so it's in this context this discussion arises. And there was also a strife among them. Which of them should be accounted the greatest?

And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But you shall not be so. But he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief as he that doth serve.

For whether his greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth, is not he that sits at meat, but I am among you as he that serveth. You are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and I point to your kingdom as my Father has appointed unto me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now let me read you verses 25 to 27 from the New Living Testament. It might make it a little easier to understand. And here's what Jesus said. In this world the kings and great men order their people around, and yet they are called friends of the people.

But among you those who are the greatest should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Normally the master sits at the table and is served by his servants, but not here, for I am your servant.

Now these are the words of Christ. These are the things that he was speaking to his disciples. He was speaking about servanthood, a concept that's not too highly esteemed today. As we live in an age where our theology and the church at large seems to have focused on personal gain, social gain, power, influence, authority, and individual greatness, where so many people...

The Greatness of Servanthood

We're reading, ironically, back in Luke chapter 22 and verse 24. They began to inquire, and there was a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And there's this theological perspective now that is speaking to people about greatness and destiny.

And it's all about influence. It's all about authority. It's all about elevation. It's all about becoming greater than other people. It's the total opposite to what Jesus Christ speaks about in the Scriptures.

He said, the greatest among you shall be your servant. I remember years ago when I was pastoring in Canada, a man called me on the telephone one day and he said, Pastor, I'm so excited. He said, the Lord has been speaking to me that my life is going to amount to...

There's greatness. He actually used the word. There's greatness coming into my life. And I said to him, oh, I'm glad to hear that. Our janitor just quit yesterday, and we need a volunteer to clean the church floors on Monday morning.

And he said to me on the telephone, well, that's not quite exactly what I had in mind. And when we speak about greatness today in the church of Jesus Christ, immediately, the natural man, that's the part of us that is not governed by the Holy Spirit.

That's the part of us that is fallen with our Father Adam. The part of us that is not governed by God seeks elevation, seeks influence, seeks authority, and will actually gravitate to a gospel that speaks about a greatness that is not the greatness of God.

Matthew 23, 12, Jesus said, whoever exalts himself shall be brought down or abased, and he that humbles himself shall be brought up or exalted. And so you can see that if we have a wrong pursuit, as it is, of this supposed destiny we feel that we are to accomplish for God, it will eventually result in our being brought down and humbled.

But if we have a right pursuit, we'll find ourselves in the exact place that we're supposed to be in the kingdom of God. Jesus was not just uttering whimsical statements to us, but he was actually giving us the true secret of spiritual power.

Christ's Humility in Philippians 2

Go to Philippians, please, chapter 2 with me, if you will, just for a moment. The Bible tells us, Paul says that Christ was the express image of the power of Almighty God. He was God. It was not robbery for him to be equal with God.

But yet, in spite of the position that he held, that position was manifested in the fact that Christ took upon himself the form of a servant. Philippians, chapter 2 and verse 3. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. In other words, don't be concerned about yourself, be concerned about your neighbor. Look around, see if there are needs, see how you can...

See, the essence of this is servanthood. Look around, see what needs to be done, see where there's a need in somebody else's life and do what you can to meet that need or be part of the solution to the situation.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Verse 5. Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name.

He took upon himself the form of a servant. He took the lowest seat as it is in the house. How baffling to the religious this must have been. How baffling to those who in their concept of God were using him for another agenda.

How obnoxious it must have been to Judas at the last table, the last supper, when he saw Jesus take off his garment, put a towel on, take a basin and begin to wash the feet. How obnoxious this concept of God must have been to this man who had another agenda.

To use God for some inner purpose, for some destiny perhaps that he saw for himself, and was using God to achieve that destiny. And suddenly to see the image of God bend his knee to fallen men, wash their feet, offer them words of comfort, serve those that he probably rightly felt should be serving himself.

And how obnoxious that was. Paul the Apostle had a revelation of the power of God, and it wasn't because of his study. As a matter of fact, he said, I count everything that I have gained to this point but done.

That I may know him, that I may be found in him, that I might be conformed to the image of God in Christ Jesus. Paul could rightly say that he was a bondservant to Christ and a servant to his fellow man.

That's why Paul had revelation. He had found the keys, he had found the secret. Paul became a servant to God. He described himself as a bondservant. His whole life at the zenith of his power and spiritual influence was being lived for the glory of God and for the benefit of others.

It could rightly be said that the heart that sent a savior to Calvary was now both fully formed and burning deep within him. There's no greater place in the scripture we see this than in Acts chapter 27 when the whole ship is going down and Paul is standing there having a one-man communion service on that deck.

Thanking God for the privilege of being poured out for others. Thanking God, thanking God, taking meat, giving it to those that are hungry, putting his hand on the shoulders of those that are afraid, giving orders for the safety and security of all who are on that ship.

I want to suggest to you the keys to that power come from servanthood, not from study and not from knowledge. Paul was a servant to God and a servant to humanity all around him. And because of it, he had this wonderful revelation of God.

That's why he could say to the church of Ephesus, Oh, that you could see what I see. That you could see him sitting at the right hand of the Father. That you could understand that every name that is named in heaven and earth have to bow their knee before him.

That you could see that he is the head and we are the body. He is the fullness, he fills all and all. We are his church and all the power that we have comes from him when we walk in right relationship with him.

The world looks down on a servant. Even the word stirs up something in all of us. It's as if in this fallen world we'd simply live to escape servanthood. That's the fallen nature. That's the Adamic nature that wants to be as God.

But not in the fullness of that statement. As God on his throne, as God ruling and reigning, as God with all power to forgive and condemn. As God in this context, but not as God on his knees. Not as God serving fallen man.

There's something in the natural man that reviles at this concept. But I remind you that Jesus washed Judas' feet. God Almighty washed the feet of the man who was about to betray him for money. He washed his feet.

Even though the world looks down on the servant, I would remind you that heaven's order is reversed. Praise God. Thank you Lord. Hallelujah. It may not mean a whole lot to you right now, but something is burning so deep inside of me.

It's something that I want to apprehend. It's something that I want to allow God to make me into. To form in me. I'm aware of my deficiency. And I thank God for it. Because the awareness of that deficiency moves you in the direction of something that God says I want to give you.

But you have to see where you lack. You have to understand that you can't get there in your own strength. But if you come to me in faith, I'll give you this. I am the head. You are the body. And the fullness of who I am will indwell you if you'll open your heart to what I want to do within you.

Servants Through Whom God Works

Though the world looks down on the servant, when God needed to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had fallen into ruin, who did he look to? He looked to a servant called Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a faithful servant.

The scripture says he was the cupbearer to the king. That means every day he's walking into that court in a foreign place. He's serving to the best of his ability and the best of his knowledge. As a matter of fact, he was such a good servant that he even had found favor with the king.

And God said, I need to rebuild the wall. The wall has fallen down around my city and the place on the earth that I have chosen for my dwelling place. And I need a man to rebuild that wall. And he didn't go to a mighty warrior.

He didn't go to a king. He didn't go to somebody with influence, power, or authority. He went to a servant. And that servant's heart was moved. And his heart was moved because he was his servant. His heart was moved for the plight of his own brethren.

Because the report that came to his heart is that the wall was down, the gates were burnt with fire, and his own brethren were in great reproach among the heathen. His heart moved. And I know immediately in his heart there had to come a thought, what can I do to help?

How can my life make a difference? I want to suggest to you today, if you are a servant to the body of Christ and the cause of Christ, those thoughts do come into your heart. And even though it looks to be impossible, look away from the impossibility and look to the one who became a servant and flows through a body that has learned the power of servanthood.

When Naaman the Syrian in 2 Kings chapter 5 needed healing from a dreadful disease, even though he was a powerful man, he was a warrior, he had influence and authority, there was a disease on him that was dooming him.

And when he needed healing from that disease, it was a servant girl in his house who knew where the power of God could be found. Praise be to God. Praise be to God. In Matthew chapter 8 verses 5 to 13, it was a servant about whom Christ spoke the words, I will come and heal him.

The centurion came to Christ and said, my servant is at home grievously sick, he's going to die. And he was a servant. And he had been such a servant that the centurion's heart was moved for him. And so was the heart of Christ.

And Christ said, I will come and heal him. I want to suggest to you today that if you and I learn how to serve others, if we learn how to serve God, if we learn how to serve in his house, if we learn how to serve fallen humanity, that Christ will come to us at times that we don't know, we're not aware of it, we don't even suspect it.

And suddenly healing comes into our life. This servant was at home. He was not privy to this conversation. But all he knew was that in a moment of time, this grievous illness that had come to his life, this affliction, this oppression was gone.

He got up out of his bed and was suddenly completely whole. And he was whole because he was a servant. The Word of God comes to a servant. I tell you folks, a lot of people are locked out of the life of Christ because they're not servants.

The Word of God comes to those who are servants in the kingdom of God. The Scriptures are locked. Healing begins to flow. Strength comes into the heart. Newness comes into the mind. Invigoration comes into the spirit.

The human body is quickened. Not because of knowledge, because we've found where that knowledge is supposed to take us till we become servants of God and servants to fallen humanity around us. This man experienced unprecedented healing in that generation.

I dare say there's a lot of healing needed in the body of Jesus Christ today. There's mental healing. There's marriage healing. There's family healing. There's relationship healing. There's all types of healing.

Might I suggest, instead of sitting in a circle and rehearsing your problems with other people, that you start serving your family. Start serving the body of Christ. Let the Word of God come to you. Just get your focus off of these things and let the Word of God come to you.

And suddenly these pages come alive. Suddenly the promise that you've read over a hundred times, never really personally understood it or appropriated it, lives. And suddenly God speaks and says, This is yours.

Get up. Take up your mat and begin to walk. No longer are you living in this state of fallenness. No longer are you going to be captivated by this imprisonment in your spirit, your flesh or your mind.

Get up and move forward in the grace and glory of Almighty God. The apostles called themselves servants. Romans 1 .1, Paul said, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. James, even though he was in a sense a physical brother of Jesus.

In James 1 .1, he said, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1 .1, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Jude, verse 1, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1 .1, the apostle John, he said, The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show to his servants.

God gave this revelation to John to show to his servants. Things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant, John. I want to suggest to you that revelation is largely hidden to those who refuse to walk as servants in this world under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Servanthood, Revelation, and Perseverance

Acts chapter 4 and verse 25, when the early church was praying and they were praying this revelation that God had given to King David. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do the worlds imagine they can overthrow the presence of God?

What lunacy for that which is created to think it has the power to throw off its creator. That's where we're living today. David had this revelation. It brought him into a large, large place spiritually and physically where he knew he could stand against everything that would ever come against him.

And yet the church, when they prayed in Acts chapter 4, verse 25, called King David a servant. Revelation chapter 15, verse 3, speaking of the end time saints who had overcome incredible hardship as singing the song of Moses, the servant of God.

They are singing the servant song. The overcomers in the last moments of time. There are people that are going to have to go through tremendous tribulation. Now, I know there's some going through it right now and I'm not downplaying that.

But there's a physical period of time coming when there are people that are going to have to go through unspeakable hardship for the testimony of Jesus Christ. But they overcame everything. It's as if hell just unleashed its weaponry in every form and power against them.

But they overcame because they had a song within their heart. They had learned what it means to be a servant of God and a servant of fallen humanity. The key of provision for a starving generation was placed in the hand of Joseph for his generation because he had learned to serve.

Whether or not his labors were recognized, whether they were properly represented or even appreciated by those who observed and benefited from his acts of service. And folks, many people are driven from service in the house of God because nobody sees it.

Nobody appreciates it. For six months, they give their all. Nobody says, well done, so they give up. On the very key that leads them to the power of God, they give up on it and begin to move in another direction.

All men may seem to be passing you by as they pursue greatness from their own perspectives. There's so many today just pursuing greatness. God help us all. It's like Daniel being given a new robe and anointed with a chain and everything else and made third ruler in the kingdom that was going to end that night.

What a futile pursuit to be looking for greatness in this world apart from Christ. And so all eyes may be passing you by and giving you the sense that you're a spiritual loser because you serve. Because you're not speaking to big crowds.

Because all you do is something that God's called you to do that is a benefit to others as they see it. And they will give you the impression that it's small, insignificant, not worthy. But I remind you again that heaven's order is completely reversed.

And many who are last are going to be first. And many who are first are going to be last. 2 Chronicles 16 .9 tells us there's another set of eyes upon you looking to show themselves strong on behalf of those whose hearts are right before them.

You might feel trampled, trounced, unappreciated, passed by. But as a servant, you have found the secret of spiritual power. I want to say that again. You may feel trampled, trounced, unappreciated, and passed by.

But as a servant, and if you continue to be a servant, you've found the secret of spiritual power. In Luke chapter 22, again in verse 28. Jesus said, You are they which have continued with me in my trials and my temptations.

I appoint to you a kingdom as my Father has appointed to me that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Now he's talking about power and provision in these verses of Scripture.

The Present Kingdom and Power to Serve

Now you can see it as completely futuristic if you want to. There is an application that puts it in the future, in the context of after the church is gone. We will have this heavenly banquet in heaven.

And we will judge, etc., etc. And there is a truth in that. We'll rule and reign with Christ. I know that. But I believe, in my heart, the kingdom of God came the moment Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

When the Holy Spirit came down, the kingdom of God came. The kingdom of God began because Christ himself said the kingdom of God does not come with observation. Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The kingdom of God, I'm already in the kingdom. The kingdom is already in me. I live on planet earth, but that's only temporary. When I leave this earth, I'm not going to a strange place. I'm going to a place I'm already familiar with and is already familiar with me.

That life of God is already inside of me. The kingdom of God has come. Christ is living out and working out his purpose through my life already. The kingdom of God is already within me. And he says, I appoint you a kingdom as my Father has appointed me.

Now, keep in mind again we're at the table where he's about to be betrayed, where he's breaking bread and talking about his broken body, where he's drinking wine and talking about his spilled blood that's about to be given for fallen and frail humanity.

And he says that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. In other words, you don't have the strength to go where I'm going. You don't have it yet. But when the Holy Ghost comes upon you, you will have the strength.

You will come to this table and you will be given the power to be poured out for the needs of others. You'll be able to sit at this table and this book will open and the power of God will be released in your soul, your mind, your heart.

You will know the power of God. You'll begin to understand that this life is not to be lived in God for ourselves. It's to allow the heart of God to be poured through us as His church for others around us.

The natural man can't do it. You can't do it and I can't do it. But God inside of us can do it and will do it. He will give us according to the Scriptures the will to do and then the power to perform.

It all comes from the hand of God and it is all given into the hand of a servant. Oh folks, if you can see it, I know I'm only scratching the edge of this, but I see something in my spirit. I see a place that I want to go.

I want to fully go there. I want to embrace it God's way. I want this heart of God to be formed within me. As a Christian man in my own home, I'm not even talking about pastoring a church right now. I'm talking about as a husband.

I'm talking about as a father. I'm talking about as a neighbor to my neighbors. I'm talking about as a friend to my friends. I'm talking about something and places that I can't give, I can't go unless God begins to do it within me.

Praise God. And out of this knowledge of a servant comes provision. Thank God that Jesus didn't draw back from serving us because out of that willingness to sit at the table His Father had appointed Him and to embrace the kingdom His Father had appointed Him has come the strength that you and I have today.

And I want to suggest that from the heart and mouth of a servant comes strength. Comes words of comfort. Comes, as Paul did, words of good cheer. I want to suggest that this is the absolute pinnacle of greatness and power in the kingdom of God.

That you can speak to people and be an encourager. That you can speak to them and lift them out of darkness. That you can speak against what oppresses their mind and see it begin to dissolve. Because you're a servant, the provision of God has been put into your human vessel by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Servanthood in Marriage, Work, and Family

It's so hard to serve a generation where everybody's just clamoring for their rights. Everybody's clenching their fists and the whole of society is being divided now. This utopian unity is going to just be thrown to the wind because anything that's not birthed in God won't last.

And it's so hard to serve when everyone is grabbing for the gold. Grabbing for the reins. Grabbing for power. Grabbing for influence. You look at your office where you work and everyone else is literally, they'll stab anybody in the back that they can to get ahead.

And you're so tempted to join them. But the Lord says, no, your power is in being a servant. Your revelation comes. Your greatness. The greatness of God is manifested in you as you begin to minister to those who are opposing their own salvation and don't even know it.

So what if they get to the third rung on the top of the ladder and lose their own soul? What good is it? No, true greatness is in servanthood. So many marriages in trouble, even here in this sanctuary.

Could it be because one or both of you are not serving one another? You want to be the Lord, sir. But doesn't the Word say you're to love your wife as Christ loves the church? When were you on your knees last with a towel and a bowl in your hand serving your wife?

No wonder your marriage is in trouble. No wonder you're going through difficulties. You want the lordship in your home. I am the boss. I'm the head of this house according to the Word of God. Well, if you are, get a bowl, get a towel, get on your knees and serve.

There's true power in it. Folks, can you imagine the healing that would come into homes if men became servants? If wives truly would serve their husbands and both would serve their children. Now I know there's a measure of governorship involved but it ultimately comes from the heart of a servant.

If you'd be given for others, not demanding rights and not demanding your ways but learn to be given for others. I think of all those who are in families where perhaps you're the only Christian and you're just so sick of the rebuke, you're so sick and tired of the scorn that you've gone into your own closet, you've closed the door, and you have now a spirituality all of your own.

But you're so distant from the heart of God. You're not serving anymore. You're wondering why your life has no influence. You think because you go in the prayer closet and pray in tongues for three hours that's going to win your whole family to God.

Oh, that's a good thing. Thank God for that. Do that. But when you come out of that closet, get a bowl, get a towel. Serve your family. Serve your family. Now many of you know the story of my father, my relationship I had with my father was quite a difficult one for... especially after I came to Christ.

Serving a Resistant Father

He couldn't understand that and it was hard. When I didn't go to law school, he was deeply disappointed in me when I became a police officer. And then when I succeeded in the police department, he finally acquiesced to that.

And when I went into ministry, he thought I was insane. Absolutely insane. Because it did look insane actually to the natural mind. And so it became very, very difficult. I couldn't share with him. He wouldn't listen.

He would throw arguments back at me. He would get angry. I couldn't share Christ with him. And yet I prayed for his soul for 22 years that he would come to the knowledge of Christ. Then my father got cancer.

You know, over all the years, it was hard. It would have been so easy for me not to go there on my summer vacation with my kids. My kids loved their grandpa, but they didn't have any idea how hard it was for me at times to go there.

Not always, but at times it was difficult because I knew the undergirding currents were not very good there. And it could have been so easy for me to back away and go somewhere else. But the Lord just kept telling me go there.

When I was spoken to in an unkind manner, I would never, ever, ever respond in a similar spirit. And then finally, after a long, long journey, my dad got cancer, and it was quite a severe cancer. And because of it, he had to have a cloth to me put on his side that would allow the excrement to go into a bag, and then it would have to be emptied.

But he was quite a proud man, and he wouldn't deal with it. And so he'd be laying in bed, and this thing would be ready to explode. So one day, I went to visit him, and I got him up out of bed because my mom said, we don't know what we're going to do with him.

He won't deal with it, and he can't stay like that. It's going to kill him, literally, before the time. So I got him up out of bed, and I sat him in front of the toilet, and the nurses had said, you know, you're not going to be able to deal with this unless you put on a mask, and you've got to put perfume in that mask because the cancerous excrement, it's quite an nauseating smell.

But I refused to. I said, no, this is my father. I didn't put a mask on, and I unfolded this thing over the toilet, and I had his excrement all over my hands. I cleaned it out, cleaned it off, cleaned him, talked to him about the fact that he had to do this.

I served him, folks. Sometimes your hand's got to get dirty when you're serving somebody. Then I took him back, and I laid him down in bed, and I said, Dad, for one more time, I want to tell you what it means to be a Christian.

And for the first time ever, he listened to me. He didn't listen to me because the argument had changed. He listened to me because his excrement had been on my hands, and I hadn't said anything about it.

He knew I was there to serve him. The power, there's such power in being a servant. Not holding to your rights. Doing not what you think is right, what you know is right. Not what you feel is right, but what God's Word says is right.

And he listened to every word I had to say. Then I left for New York, and the next time I visited, only a few days later, he was ready to give his life to Christ, and I led him to the Lord. God has to give us back the joy of being a servant.

We can lose it so easily with all our knowledge and all our study. Pastor David, God's given you such spiritual power now. It's come to you because you've done these things. I know Satan is there the whole time saying, this is less than what God would have for a person's life, but in reality, it's more.