Is Darkness Celebrating Above Your Head? — Carter Conlon

The Call to Stand as Light in a Dark Generation

Is darkness celebrating above your head? I want to date this message. It was the morning of Friday, July 22nd, in my personal time of study, that the Holy Spirit spoke this to me. And I felt the necessity of dating it this morning because Pastor David preached a message very similar to what I'm about to speak today.

When the Holy Spirit is speaking to his church, the Bible says that in the mouths of two or three witnesses, everything shall be established. And it's amazing that God that will speak to Pastor David in his prayer closet, for times where church will also speak to me in another part of the continent, around the same time, the same message.

And so in faithfulness to God, I'm going to deliver it to you today. Father, I stand before you aware that I stand by grace, aware of my need of you every moment. I ask you for an enablement and an empowerment of the Holy Spirit that takes my mind and the ability that I possess so far beyond the natural and into the supernatural life of Jesus Christ.

God, I pray for grace in my heart never to take lightly your presence. I ask you, Lord, to do what only you can do. You're destined to do a supernatural work in the hearts and minds of your people. You're going to have a church without spot or wrinkle.

You're going to have a people in this last hour that have an open heaven and that are able to stand in an ever encroaching darkness and make a clear, plain declaration, verbally, physically, of the gospel and the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

God, help me to do honor to your name today. I ask it in Jesus name. Is darkness celebrating above your head? Judges chapter 16, verse 23. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon, their God, and to rejoice.

For they said, Our God has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their God. For they said, Our God has delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

And it came to pass, when their hearts were married, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and he made them sport, and they set him between the pillars.

The story of Samson conceivably ranks as one of the greatest failures in scripture of a man who was spirit-empowered and called of God. He was a man called from his birth to be set apart, just as you and I are.

Not necessarily from our physical birth, but from the moment that we were spiritually reborn, forgiven our sin and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we were set apart for a specific purpose, no less than the one that Samson was.

Set apart for the honor of God, and we're set apart for the freedom and the deliverance of our own countrymen. We are called of Christ to be signs on a hill that cannot be hidden. We are called to give light in darkened times.

We are called to stand out in the midst of a generation that is moving farther and farther in its rebellion from the understanding of a holy God. But the life of Samson is a tragedy. He never fully understood, I don't think, why the Spirit of God was upon him.

I'm sure people told him, I'm sure his mother and father made him aware that he was to be a judge, as it is, a representative, an ambassador of God's justice in his generation. He was called to speak truth, live truth.

He was called to be an embodiment of the power of God, to challenge one more time a generation that had slipped deep into a recessive tendency that every generation has when it begins to move away from God.

But yet his life overall was a dismal failure. Psalm 82, if you'll put a marker in Judges 16, please, and go to Psalm 82. There's a cry of the psalmist, and this cry of the psalmist, whose cry is for others, sums up really everyone who's called by God, who makes a choice to follow a similar life path as Samson.

Psalm 82, verse 1, says, God stands in the congregation of the mighty. He judges among the gods. In other words, he is the judge of judges. He is the ultimate authority and the one who establishes and upholds all truth.

How long, verse 2, says, will you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

They know not, neither will they understand. They walk on in darkness, and all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said you are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High, but you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes.

God stood up in this time when the psalmist of Psalm 82 wrote these words, and there was an anguish in this man's heart because history has repeated itself over and over again. He saw people who were anointed, who were called to represent him in their generation, but they were judging unjustly.

In other words, the anointing that was upon them, the understanding they had, were not using it for the purposes of God. And they were accepting the persons of the wicked. In other words, there was an embracing in the hearts of those who are called and set apart for God, an embracing of the value, the core value systems of a fallen society around them, beginning to think the way the heathen think, beginning to do what the heathen do, embracing the same types of entertainment, the same life goals and pursuits as those who are without God.

And I hear this anguished cry of the Holy Spirit when he says, How long will you have this anointing of God on you and yet use it for unjust purposes? And how long will you accept the persons of the wicked?

I hear that cry in my spirit for the church of Jesus Christ at large today, the Holy Spirit crying out for whoever can still hear in our generation, those who sit at home and turn on ungodly entertainment.

And the Holy Spirit cries and says, How long will you open your hearts to the persons of the wicked? How long will you embrace the value systems of a world that is in rebellion to God and has fallen from God's grace and needs to see a Redeemer?

Not a people who are intermixed with it, but a people who are separated from it, who stand and the very presence of God within them is a reproof to this rebellion that is led away from the Lord. Defend, he cries out, the poor and the fatherless.

Do justice to the afflicted and the needy. Deliver the poor and rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They don't realize where they're headed, the psalmist says in verse 5. They're walking in darkness and this world as they know it is spinning out of course.

And folks, you don't even have to be intelligent to see that anymore. It's spinning out of course. Nuclear technology now has been learned, has been exported into countries throughout the world. It cannot be contained any longer.

And we see how difficult a situation we find ourselves in, in this generation that we're living in. In verse 6 he said, I have said you are gods. And the word for gods is Elohim and it really means judges.

As Samson was called a judge. One who stands up and holds this judicial office given to him by God to be a reflection of God. To be the heart of God, the voice of God. To be a conscience as it is to a generation that is losing the sense of right and wrong.

And yet he said, I've said that you are called to be these judges. And all of your children are the most high, but you shall die like men. And you shall fall like one of the princes. You're called to be God's representatives, but in the end you'll be as powerless and ordinary as men without God are.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to end up like that. I don't want the end of my life to be powerless and ordinary. A few exploits along the way. Take the jawbone of a donkey and slay a thousand and slay thirty on another occasion.

And kill a lion as it roars upon you as you're heading down to fulfill as Samson was the lust of his own heart. Never fully embracing the call of God that was on his life. Acknowledging the anointing, yes, absolutely.

But still pursuing the lust of his own heart. A few exploits recorded in history, but the central purpose of his life never accomplished. He sought satisfaction in the value systems of a perishing society all around him.

The scripture tells us that very, very clearly. Now, consider the words of Jesus in John chapter four, verse 34, where he said, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Now, as a Christian, whose work can you and I honestly say that we're doing?

Doing the Work of God to Finish Victoriously

This is really the issue. Whose work are we doing? And if the anointing of God is upon us, are we an extension of that work of Christ that was begun two thousand years ago? When he walked on the earth and he delivered the lonely, the oppressed and the sick and the afflicted and the imprisoned.

He embraced those that society rejected. He went out and fed the masses that were hungry and gave healing and help to the lonely and the homeless and the despairing of his generation. And this is the work of God.

It is to gather a harvest. It is the passionate work of God to save every soul who will ever call out on the name of Jesus Christ. It is to be the tender, compassionate hand of God, reaching into a generation that has rejected its own salvation, but yet still tenderly going, still touching, still speaking, still pleading, still imploring those who are on a course that is headed for destruction, to turn from this destruction and turn to the loving hands of a faithful savior.

Can you and I honestly say that we're doing the work of God? Folks, you have to be able to answer this question because it determines whether we will finish our lives victoriously in the cause of Christ or end up as weak as other men.

There's no other way around this one. If I'm going to end up a victorious Christian, I have to be doing the work of God. I have to be moving into what God's work is in Christ for my life. Otherwise, I will end up at the end as weak as all other men.

I'll have a testimony. I went to church. I, from time to time, went on a missions trip. I gave perhaps a glass of water here and there, a loaf of bread to somebody who was hungry. But personally speaking, my influence in my own family, my own home, my own community, my own country, my world that God has placed me in, I'll end up as weak as other men.

End up at the end as Samson with the enemy having built a portico of evil praise over my head, rejoicing over the testimony of Christ that God himself desired to establish within my life. Now, Samson knew, just as you and I know it, that the spirit that animated his enemies was continually after the source of his strength.

Folks, you've got to know something. You have to understand it here today. When you came to Christ, the Holy Spirit came upon you. The Holy Spirit is not just a feeling. The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the triune God, separate but yet fully and undeniably God.

The same spirit that moved upon the face of the water when the voice of God said, let there be light and created light now lives inside of you and lives inside of me. I am called to live in the supernatural.

I'm called to walk in unity with God. I'm called to allow the Holy Spirit to take my life and expand the borders of my heart, giving me the compassion of Christ for a lost and dying generation. I'm called to walk with the Holy Ghost and let him expand the borders of my mind and taking me out of the mediocre thinking that is part and parcel of men who don't know God and bring me into the realm of the mind of God where my value system begins to change.

I see now clearly what the scope and purpose of God is for my life. I understand eternal truths and eternal values. The Bible says clearly I'm to walk with the Spirit of God and he's to impart to me a new heart.

He's to give me this desire to walk with God. He says he will do it. He says he will implant within me everything I need to be all that he has called me to be in my generation. Samson knew it, but he knew that his enemies were after the source of his strength.

And folks, you're not wise today if you don't realize this. The enemy is after this strength of God and you're always after it. The devil knows the potential for one person who begins to realize that God lives in me.

The devil knows it. He has experienced the sting of it time and again. One John Wesley. One George Whitefield. One woman. One man. One godly young person who rises up and says, Holy Spirit, make me everything you've destined me to be in Christ.

Take me everywhere you've wanted me to go. Take away from me everything that offends your nature. Jesus, come into the temple, this physical temple of the Holy Ghost, and as you did in Jerusalem, overthrow the tables and the money changers.

Overthrow the selling of doves. Overthrow all of the religiousness that goes on in my heart. And guide me into the very life that you have for me. Let me walk with you. Let me talk with you. Let me know your mind.

Let me understand your power and your glory. When I stand on a hillside to preach the gospel, let it not be with the reasonings of men's minds. Let it be of the power of the Holy Ghost flowing through me.

God, give me spiritual authority starting in my own heart, and then my own marriage, and my own home, and among my own family. Let not my words be discounted. God says, I will do this for you. I will make you into another person, another man, another woman.

The Spirit of God will come upon you, and expand you, and take you beyond. But you have to want to go. This anointing of the Holy Ghost is not so that we can pursue without conscience our former lusts.

This anointing of the Holy Ghost is to do the work of God. And the work of God is the saving of the lost. That is God's work. There is no other work. That is God's work. He has a passion in His heart for every man, woman, and child ever created in the image of God.

A passion that sent Him to Calvary. A passion that allowed Him to be bruised and wounded by fallen men. He desires to implant that passion in His church. A church largely diverted in our generation. A church very much following the pathway of Samson in his generation.

Sporadic bursts of the Holy Ghost, but constantly pursuing this path of pleasure. Personal fulfillment. Instead of defeating the Philistines, we find him early in his ministry, sitting at a banquet table.

With his enemies, about to be married to a Philistine bride. You see, Samson had certain types of theological knowledge. And this theological knowledge that he had, it's a type I'm about to speak of now.

Forgiveness, Failure, and the Danger of Willful Sin

He relied on it to a great degree, and he foolishly played with it. I'm afraid that there are people doing the same in our generation. This spirit that animated a woman called Delilah. It's a spirit. Always after his strength.

Tell me, where is the source of your strength? How can you be bound? Can you imagine? Even to play with this type of a spirit. In Judges 16, 6, Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, where in thy great strength lieth?

And wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green widths that were never dried, I shall be weak and be as another man. Now, he had to have a knowledge.

There was a knowledge in him that I cannot be bound by seven green cords. And it's a type that speaks something to my heart. And this is only my personal feelings on this. But it speaks of seven fresh failures.

It speaks of repeated failure. In other words, I can't be bound by fresh failure. And folks, if you're a Christian, if you're a genuine Christian, of course, nothing I say has any bearing at all. If you're a game player, if you're a religious hypocrite, this doesn't apply to you.

But it does apply to the sincere Christian, the sincere person who's walking with God. You cannot be bound by fresh failure. You and I are going to go through times where we even get so exasperated with ourselves because we, like Paul says in Romans, we know what to do, but we're constantly doing what we know we shouldn't be doing.

But it's not in the heart to do these things. There's no desire to go there. There's a desire to walk with God. I cannot be defeated by repeated failure. God's forgiveness is sure and it's perfect. He himself told Peter, 70 times 7 are we to forgive those that trespass against us and come and in a day say, forgive me.

And how much more immeasurable is the forgiveness of God? And I thank God for that with all my heart. I thank God that I have the knowledge that I may fail and undoubtedly do, but I cannot be bound by fresh failure.

But you see a light holding of this great truth. This is an incredible truth. Proverbs 24, 16 says a just man falls seven times and rises up again. God will not leave him where he is. You can be here this morning and you might have failed innumerable times this week and you are so sick of the failure in your life.

But I want to tell you something. You cannot be bound by this failure. You cannot be held back by this failure. The devil cannot rejoice over you. We confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But you see a light holding of this great truth can lead to a careless association with sin and disastrous consequences. You see, he held it very lightly. He knew that he could not be bound by these fresh cords.

In Hebrews chapter 10, let me just read it to you. Verse 26 says, If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. You see, the forgiveness of God is not for willful sin.

It's for the person who does not want to walk in sin. Who does not want to live a life of sin. Who wants to walk with God. But a fearful, certain fearful looking for a judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite or insulted the Spirit of grace.

For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs to me. I will recompense it, the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Remember, God's forgiveness is for the purpose of getting out.

Not for the purpose of going in without consequence. That's why God is willing to forgive. That's why God is willing to cover our sin. The honest person who comes to Christ will not live under the dominion of sin.

Sin will not have dominion over his life or her life. In Judges 16 .11, again she said, Tell me how you might be bound. He said, if they bind me fast with new ropes that were never occupied, then I shall be weak and be as another man.

The devil will try to convince some that when he brings along a new struggle, a new sin, perhaps something you've never had to battle with before. Give you an example. Maybe you were a naturally humble person.

Naturally knew you needed God. You got saved. The Holy Spirit came into your life. God began to use you. And all of a sudden you have to battle pride. You've never had to battle it the way you're battling it now because God is using you.

And it seems to be a new struggle. And the enemy will come and say, You're done now. You're finished because of this new struggle in your life. But Samson had this knowledge. He could not be bound by new struggles.

Because new ones are just as forgiven as the old ones. Paul said in Romans 6 .14, Sin shall not have dominion over you. You are not under the law, but under grace. The power, the penalty of sin for the true Christian were broken at Calvary.

The issue is settled. If you are a true Christian, the penalty, the stain and the power of sin is broken over your life. Oh yes, you will struggle, but it cannot hold you. It cannot bind you. There is no prison door that can enslave you if you are a genuine born-again believer in Jesus Christ.

God will always make a way. And not only will He make a way, but He will bring you out in greater power and authority than you've ever known before. He will take you where you are the weakest and He will make you strong.

That His name alone might be given glory. You might be one of the most hateful people on earth. And He will fill your heart with the love that only God can put in your heart. And He will take you in your area of greatest weakness and make you strong.

And you will stand and have a testimony. Not by power, not by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. God has forgiven me. God has set me free. God in Christ Jesus has brought me out of darkness.

And I walk with Him in the light and life of Almighty God in my generation. Judges 16, 13. Again, she said, tell me how I can bind you, how you can be bound. He said, if you weave the seven locks of my head with a web.

Confidence in Christ Against the Enemy's Accusations

You see, another thing that I believe that He knew is that the enemy cannot defeat you by attacking your mind. You will face incredible onslaught in your mind as a Christian against the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Not so much against you. It will masquerade as coming against you. But really what the devil is after is your confidence in Christ. Your confidence in the fact that He has forgiven you. He has called you.

He has empowered you. He has cleansed you. He has declared you righteous in spite of your struggles. He has declared you righteous. In righteousness, He says in Isaiah 54, 14, shalt thou be established.

Thou shalt be far from oppression. And thou shalt not fear and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. Every tongue that rises against you in judgment, thou shalt condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. He said, their righteousness is of me. It is my righteousness, not theirs. God says, I have taken it. I have placed it upon you. When you came home in your sin and in your difficulty that you were in, I put the righteousness of Christ upon you.

You cannot be bound by the attacks of the devil on your mind. And believe me, he will attack you. I told Pastor Neil when he first came here to Times Square Church, I said, you're going to experience an attack in your mind like you've never believed.

In New York City. He told me later on, a year later, I wouldn't have believed it had I not experienced it. The depth of the attacks of the enemy that come against the minds of ministers in this city. Their righteousness is of me.

The devil cannot accuse me or you of past failure, present struggle. He cannot come against your mind and take away from you the anointing of God that is on you. He cannot. As a matter of fact, the more you fight in faith, the stronger you're going to become.

The more you're going to become aware. The more authority, spiritual authority begins to be planted in your heart. When you begin to realize just how powerless your enemy really is. You have the authority to stand and make declarations of the gospel to as many people as God sets before you.

And you have an inner knowledge that prison doors cannot hold the people that you are speaking to. Judges 16. 16 said she pressed him daily with her words and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death.

The word vexed means it was shortened. In other words, she pressed him so that his natural strength, his natural resolve began to diminish. And many, many today who profess Christ, this is where they live.

Vexed. Playing a dangerous game with the enemies of God. Toying with that which has the power to take away your strength. Accepting into your heart and home the ungodly. The theology of the ungodly. The ways of the ungodly.

Even with the knowledge that this is a game for keeps. Delilah is after the strength of the Christian. And the testimony of Christ's church, especially in our generation. Verse 20 tells us. Samson woke out of his sleep and said, I'll go out as at other times and shake myself.

And he did not know that the Lord was departed from him. She vexed him until he finally really what happened is he gave her his heart. He finally gave in. And she called the Lords of the Philistines said, you can come now for his.

He's given me his heart. I think now of a church age. That has so little power and influence. In our generation, I think of countries with churches on every corner. But barely a voice. Or barely a testimony of the life of God.

And of the power of Christ. I think of a generation that is watched by church after church in North America today. And considers what is inside just salt to be cast under their feet. Theology that doesn't have to be reckoned with any longer.

Opinions that are just opinions. A powerless. Passionless. Profession of Christ. And here's exactly what happened to Samson. His eyes were taken out. And he rose up. And didn't know. That he was powerless.

I think of the numerous conventions happening all over the country. Where myriads of Christians are running. Trying to rise themselves one more time. Coming home with all of these great plans. And schemes.

To propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the realization. That without the Holy Ghost leading. They're powerless. Without an agreement with God. How can two walk together God says. Unless they'd be agreed.

It's a powerless testimony. That has no ability. To touch a generation. Now even more tragic. In Judges 16 where we began. Says the Lords of the Philistines. Verse 23. Gathered together. To offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their God.

And to rejoice. They said our God has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. When the people saw him they praised their God. For they said our God has delivered into our hands our enemy. And the destroyer of our country.

Which slew many of us. I think of the church in America. How it has stood for righteousnesses. For so many years. And how much of the enemy's devices have been destroyed. By the living testimony of Jesus Christ.

It came to pass when their hearts were married. They said call for Samson that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house. And he made them sport. And they set him between the pillars.

I think of the myriads now. Of people in America and Canada. Who turn on the television. Just for a good laugh. Just to watch some televangelist somewhere. So they can sneer and mock. At the foolishness that is purporting itself to be the spirit of almighty God.

Bring him out. That we may bring him out. Turn him on as it is. Bring him out that we may make sport. And I see. In the spiritual realm. The enemies of God. Having built this portico. Of evil praise as it is over the heads of the church.

Many, many of God's people. And some of you today you know exactly what I'm talking about. In the house of the Lord. In some measure wanting God. But you know the enemy has built something on top of your head.

You cannot get through to heaven. There is this mocking voice that is constantly over you. Constantly mocking your powerlessness. Constantly mocking the lack of passion. The lack of direction. The lack of vision.

As it is in the so-called spirit of God that is upon you. The devil building a house and dancing on the head of the church. And folks it's happening in our generation. The enemy has built a house. And he's dancing.

Over the heads of God's people. And if you can't see it you haven't been in your Bible. If you can't see it then your heart is not broken like mine is. Dancing. Bring out the church. Let's make some sport.

Bring out the church. But folks something was happening. That the enemy was not aware of. And I believe with all my heart. Even in this hour that we're living in. Where it seems that the testimony of Christ is diminishing on an unprecedented scale.

Even in this hour. There is a people. There is a church. There is a people somewhere in every denomination. Everywhere the gospel is preached. There's a man. There's a woman. There's a young person. There's an old person.

Who finally gets to the point of saying enough of hell over my head. I'm not living here anymore. The devil is not going to make fun of my testimony in Christ any longer. Or my life in Christ any longer.

Repentance and the Light of God's Righteousness

Micah says it this way in chapter 7 verse 8. Rejoice not against me O mine enemy. When I fall I shall arise. When I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him.

This is what Micah is saying. If God needs to correct me. I will humble my heart and receive his correction. Until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me. He shall bring me forth to the light. And I shall behold his righteousness.

Then she that is my enemy shall see it. Hallelujah. And shame shall cover her. Which said unto me where is the Lord thy God? My eyes shall behold her. And now she shall be trodden down as the mire in the streets.

A people will rise. A people will say enough. Enough. I'm not going out as weak as other men. Let everybody who wants to play games let them play games. But I'm not going out as weak as other men. I'm going out with the testimony of Christ in my heart.

If I have to shout in my hospital bed I will. But I'm not going out without the testimony of Jesus Christ. I'm not going out without the life of Christ. Hell is not going to rejoice over me. Hell is going to shake when I walk into a room.

Because the power of God will rest upon me. And they brought him out. There's this portico, this platform as it is. And they set Samson between the pillars. And said make sport. And they looked over the balcony and I can see them dancing and rejoicing.

Day gone has delivered our enemy which slew many of us into our hands. But unaware of the power of humility. This mighty man of God is not mighty anymore. He's deficient. He knows it. He needs God. He's aware of it.

No longer schemes and plans. But he leans over to a little boy. And says show me the pillars upon which this house stands. It's amazing in the scriptures it says a child shall lead them. Jesus himself said unless you have faith as a child you'll not enter the kingdom of heaven.

He no longer has a plan. He's now dependent. And that's the beginning of the victory. Dependent on God. And dependent on God's provision. And all that God has provided at that moment is just a little boy.

It's amazing sometimes if you've gotten off track talk to a new Christian. They'll tell you quite quickly where you're off. They will. I remember just being saved and coming into a church and meeting people and thinking what an arrogant man.

Forty years in the way. Ask a new believer. Say heaven seems to be closed. Talk to him for twenty minutes and the new believer will tell you what's wrong. He said to this child show me the pillars upon which this house stands that I may feel them.

You see Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 7 of a godly sorrow that works repentance. And maybe that's just what somebody here has to cry today. God help me to feel a godly sorrow for what I have allowed in my ignorance the devil to build over my head.

And the testimony of Christ. Help me to understand how it grieves your heart. Help me to feel it. That I may clear myself of this. That I may humble myself before God. That there might be a zeal for truth.

That there might be an indignation against this having gotten a hold of the testimony of Christ in my life. That I may see the revenge of God against it enacted through my life. Not only feel it, he said, but that I may lean upon them.