A Sudden Voice in the City — Carter Conlon

Praise God. Good morning, Times Square Church. If you turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, please, chapter 1, Proverbs chapter 1. And I'm going to speak to you today about a sudden voice in the city, a sudden voice in the city.

Now, Father, I thank you, Lord God, with all my heart for your word. Jesus Christ, help us to understand what you're about to do. Speak to every heart. Give us clear vision. Cause us, Lord, to want the things that you want.

Move us in the direction of what gives glory to you. Help us, Jesus. God, I pray for an anointing that transcends all of any ability that you've given me. My God, this has to be conveyed in the spirit.

It cannot be conveyed in the flesh. Something you have to do in every person's heart. Father, I ask you in Jesus' name to do it sovereignly and powerfully today. And I give you praise and glory for it in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen. Proverbs chapter 1, beginning at verse 20, a sudden voice in the city. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth her voice in the streets. She cries in the chief place of concourse, that means business, in the openings of the gates.

In the city, she utters her word saying, How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you.

I will make known my words unto you. Again, verse 20 says, Wisdom cries without, and she utters her voice in the streets. Now, in this passage of scripture, the Bible clearly shows us that God is always and in all places wanting to make himself known.

He's wanting to bring a fallen people back to himself into living in a saving relationship with him. Now, many who are here today, you can remember how suddenly and inexplicably, at least to yourself, thoughts of God came into your heart before you got saved.

I remember when I was a young police officer walking the beat back in Canada, suddenly thoughts about God came into my heart. It was a strange thing, really. I even wondered myself, why am I thinking about God?

Why have I at least partially come to the conclusion that God might be what I'm looking for in my life? Why am I sitting in empty churches, talking to a God that I really don't know, and I've never had any kind of a living relationship with?

It's because he was speaking. The voice of God is always speaking, always wooing, always calling, everyone, everywhere, all the time. There's this inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. And thoughts come into people's hearts like they did with us long before someone came to you and explained what it was that you were feeling.

And I don't know how you feel today, but I can say, thank God they came. I praise God for the day that a man knocked on my door and said, I hear that you want to understand what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus.

I thank God for that. I thank God. I think about it constantly. I thank God for it, that had he not come, I would not have known. Now, God in another way could have brought deliverance, but I just thank God that he used an ordinary human vessel, another man just like myself, in the same occupation I was in at the time, to come to me.

He had never won anybody to Christ in his Christianity up to that point. And he was reaching out by faith, coming to my door, not knowing what to expect, not knowing what kind of a reception he was going to get.

But all I can say is that thank God he came. The Lord needed a voice and he became that voice that brought me to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Paul says in Romans chapter 10 and verse 14, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Just common logic really in the scriptures. How will they know? How will they turn? How will they hear?

If somebody doesn't go to them, it doesn't matter sometimes about the thoughts that are in their hearts. The Lord needs a voice in the earth. I wonder if there have been moments in societies, because I've been a student of revival for years, where there were longings.

These inner longings came upon societies. I've even spoken with a man one time many years ago who actually lived through a revival and described to me the inner groan that came into his spirit. He was just a child in grade school and he said, we were all crying.

Nobody could work. They had to dismiss the school and send us home. And he said, as I left the school, people were standing in the streets. They didn't know what to do. This inner awareness of God had come upon this town, but how will they hear without a preacher?

I thank God that in every revival, at least in most of them, there has been somebody that God has raised up. There have been churches perhaps that have laid hold again of what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ on the earth.

There have been individual Christians. There have been evangelists, preachers, pastors that have just suddenly understood that they've been called to speak. But I can't help but wonder if there have been moments in society where people were ready to hear, but few were willing to speak.

And if we are silent, knowing that the purpose of our lives and ministry is to glorify Christ and to see the desires of his heart satisfied on the earth. If we are silent, when we know, when I know that the purpose of my life is to glorify Christ, when I know that his heart's desire very clearly in scripture is that none should perish, but all should come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

If I know this and remain silent, the question is why? Why won't I speak? Psalm 115 verse 17 tells us that those that go down into silence are not able to give praise to God. I mean, yes, we can come to church and sing, but the question is, is it really praise?

Are we really? Praise is more than a song. Praise is a lifestyle. Praise is really you and I coming into the church on Sunday, thanking God for what he's done throughout the week. It's not about the choir hitting the right note and the band leading us into that more or less mystical presence of God for some, but it's just coming in and saying, God, thank you, Jesus.

Thank you that you stretched my life. You gave me thoughts and power and leadings, and I've seen your hand at work in my life all week. The second Kings chapter seven tells us of a time in history. There were just a few people who found an incredible supply of provision just outside the gates of a starving city.

The city was starving to death. It would be besieged by darkness all around. And these four people just decided to go into the camp of the enemy. And when they got there, they found the enemy had already fled.

And there were tents with gold and tents with food. And there was garments, everything, everything. And they went from tent to tent and they were basking in the glory of what they'd been miraculously given.

And as they were doing this, suddenly a thought came to them. In second Kings chapter seven, verse nine, the Bible says, they said one to another, we do not well. This is a day of good tidings and we hold our peace.

We do not well. We've been basking in this provision. We know that we're supplied. We found something. We understand the enemy has been conquered. This incredible provision is here, but it isn't just for us.

It's for the people of the city. And they said, we do not well. This is a day of gladness and we hold our peace. And then they said, if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us.

In other words, what they were really saying is if we wait too long, something may happen that takes away the opportunity. If we wait too long, I want to tell you this morning, beloved, we must not wait any longer.

If we wait too long, something can come our way that takes away the opportunity. You look at now the situation in Egypt and there are a lot of Christians, a lot of beloved Christian brethren in Egypt, but the time in a sense, the freedom that there was a freedom to speak the name of Jesus, but something has come their way that may be taking this away.

Jonah’s Reluctance to Speak to Nineveh

Now, therefore come, they said that we may go and tell the King's household. Now the book of Jonah, if you want to turn there with me, it's eight books, eight relatively small books back from the gospel of Matthew, which is the first book in the New Testament.

So when you find Matthew go back about eight small books, it's very close to the end of the Old Testament. Now, I think the Lord has shown me something in this. This book tells us why sincere believers refuse to speak, especially in places and in times and to people who need it the most, because it's a question that has troubled me.

Why do sincere followers of Jesus Christ not share their faith? Why do we hold our peace in public? Oh, we're all brave in church. Oh yeah, we can stand and want to prophesy and everybody has a word for somebody, but why do we hold our peace when we get outside in a sense, outside of these doors?

Why don't we speak? Now, Jonah was not like the people whom Jesus describes as being shut down by a love and a preoccupation with themselves in this world. Remember there were those that were invited into the banquet and the work of God.

And one came and said, no, I've just, it's my family. So I just married. And so I don't have time. My focus is on my family. Another said, no, I bought land. I don't really have time to do this. I'm a commercial guy.

And then somebody else brought, had cattle and they were investing and they were starting to work and it was about themselves. And so these, these people were preoccupied with themselves and they're preoccupied with the world.

And you really don't expect that kind of a person to fully represent Jesus Christ in the earth. We understand that, but not Jonah. He was a genuine follower of God. He was a man that God could actually speak to.

He did not have a problem hearing God. He simply had a problem obeying God. The bottom line is this. He didn't like the people that God was asking him to approach and quite simply didn't want to speak to them.

The Assyrians were not a nice people. They were conquerors. They were bent on assimilating the whole world into their way of thinking and their view. And they were known, it's kind of an oxymoron. I was reading in Bible dictionary about this.

And they said on one hand, they were known to be a rather jovial people. On the other hand, they were known for inexplicable cruelty to people whom they had conquered. And they were a constant threat to the people in the known world at this time.

And the Lord said, I want you to go and I want you to tell them the words I've given you. And Jonah said, I don't want to go. You know, some people just don't speak because we just simply don't like people.

We're tired of nasty New Yorkers in our face all the time. We're just tired of the city. We're tired of how people live and think and act. And we just want to live our lives in a bubble. Leave me alone.

Lord, thank you that you love them, but please don't ask me to speak to them. Now, I used to have many theories about why people don't share their faith, but I'm starting to feel more and more that the real reason is they simply don't want to.

I used to preach so wonderfully about how we fear rejection and we're afraid of this and we're concerned about that. I think the bottom line is people just don't want to. I can prove it to you. If I made you an offer today and I told you that this week, I want you to go out and I want you to stand before 15 strangers in the city and I want you to sing Mary had a little lamb to them and say and tell them I must have your attention.

I have something I have to say. And if you do this in front of 15 people, I will write you a check for a million dollars at this altar next Sunday. I venture a guess most everybody here would be in the city standing going, Mary had a little lamb.

His fleece was white as snow. Now stay there. I've got to tell you the rest of this. Now, realistically, if we would do that, is it simply because we don't see a reward in it? What is the reason why we don't speak?

I think it's people just, Jesus said for those who used well the deposit of his life, he said, well done good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many things.

Enter thou into the jaw of your Lord. And so there's a reward much greater than, you know, a million dollars for singing Mary had a little lamb awaiting us. But somehow in our hearts, because it doesn't satisfy the immediate, we don't value it.

It's the only explanation that I can think of. We don't see the value of a soul. We don't understand what eternity will mean for those who used well, the deposit of the life of Jesus Christ. Now, please, please do not come here next Sunday, looking for your million dollar check because you've sang Mary had.

Well, I used an illustration like this one time and a fellow showed up and said, where's my money and got really mad at me. So you do it for Jesus. Talk about the kingdom of God and your reward will be great when you get to the end of the journey.

And so Jonah took a long journey away from the calling on his life, a long journey, like the prodigal son. He took his inheritance and he went far, far, far away from the heart of his father. And he probably had scriptural reasons.

A lot of churches have scriptural reasons why they have an unloving heart in a perishing society. If he was a new Christian, you might've said, doesn't the Bible infer in Hebrews seven and 26, that as Christ is, we should be wholly harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.

The churches that don't share Christ because they believe this. They believe they are to be separate. They need to shut away. They need to shun all evil, including people. Now this is scripture out of context, but the disobedient who are unwilling to follow Christ can't possibly read the scriptures in context.

If the motivating force of my life is not the love of God for fallen humanity, if I'm not moving in that stream of the life of God, I will never understand the scriptures. I will read it out of context because I'm falsely employed as it is in the work of God.

And so the Bible tells us that Jonah paid a fare and took a journey far away from what the Lord had given him to do. And he paid a fare. Well, there's always a price for this. There's a, people think that by keeping silent, everything in my life is going to be okay.

But I want to suggest to you, there's a price that is paid when we are not willing to do the work of God in the earth. Firstly, he fell asleep. Verse five in Jonah one tells us he fell asleep in the inner bowels of the ship as it is.

And he became unaware that all around him, people were crying out to be saved all around him. Everyone was crying out to their opinion of what they thought God was. And he wasn't aware of it. What a tragedy.

If you and I could journey through this city and the city has come to a moment in time when there is an inner cry going on among the unsaved youth in the business community and the ambassadors and those in the entertainment industry and moms and dads and kids all through the city, there's this inner cry, but I'm not aware of it because I'm asleep, spiritually asleep.

I don't hear it in my inner man. The people can pass by me every day. One day I was heading to the office and I passed by a young lady with a box and she was receiving donations right here on 51st and front beside the church by McDonald's.

And I passed her by and I was busy and the Lord said, go back and talk to her. And I felt I really don't want to go back. Most times that's just a, you know, raising money is just a scam for drugs and everything else.

I just don't want to get ensnared in this. I'm busy. I'm doing the Lord's work after all. And yet, you know, when you disobey God, there's like a bungee cord that gets hooked on your back and you just, the more you walk, the harder it gets.

And the Holy Spirit kept saying, go back, go back. See, I couldn't hear what was going on there. I, because of the busyness or the self-preoccupation at that moment, I was not aware of something I should have been aware of.

And so I went back and I see a young lady, probably no more than 19 years old, looked like life had been very hard on her. And I said to her, what are you collecting for? And she said, I'm collecting for children, some kind of feed the children fund somewhere.

And I said, why are you collecting this money? She said, because I've not lived a very good life and I'm trying to make peace with God. See, there's a young lady who had a cry in her heart. I wonder how many people do we, I was able to tell her the price is paid.

I was able to unlock eternity. And she stood there trembling and almost in unbelief that this is possible, that God loves her. And folks, I don't know how many people we walk by in our preoccupation with their own things every day and are unaware of the inner cry that's going on in their heart.

He knew what he should be doing. Jonah 1 .6, even the unsaved were reminding him. Remember the shipmaster came down and said, you sluggard, what are you doing asleep in this kind of a situation? We're all in danger of perishing.

Get up and call on your God. The shipmaster didn't know that his God was God, but he said, get up and call on your God. He's the only one in the ship who's not calling out. Isn't that strange? He's the man who hears the voice of God, knows the voice of God, is the actual prophet of God.

And he's the only one on the ship who's not calling out to God. Everyone else is calling out to some concept of God to survive. And the shipmaster reminds him, he became aware that people were in peril all around him simply because he was running from what he should be doing.

He knew that the storm had come and he knew that people were going to die because he wasn't doing what he should be doing. And folks, I'm not trying to bring anyone under condemnation. You have to understand this because condemnation doesn't move God's people into action.

It's conviction. It's an inner sense that this is right, what I'm hearing. And Jonah came to that sense and Jonah knew that he could not hide from the storm any longer, but he himself had the solution to the people's fear.

And he said to the people on the ship, take me and throw me into the storm as it is. Throw me into this. This storm is on you because I am in disobedience to God. I have been called to speak and I'm not speaking.

I've been called to pray and I'm not praying. I've been called to obey and I'm not obeying. And because of this, this danger has come upon you. Because of this, this whole journey is in danger of perishing.

And Jonah came to an awareness that is a wonderful thing for all people, myself included, that I'm not called to hide from the storm. If there's going to be a resolution, I've got to be thrown into the midst of the storm, right in the middle of it.

I'm not called to hide from people's pain. I'm not called to hide from their confusion. I'm not called to hide from their cries and their desperation. In spite of what it may look like, I am called to be cast into the midst of the situation because God has planted within you and I the answer to what people are looking for.

Jonah’s Prayer and Restoration to Obedience

Chapter 2 tells us that he was cast into a great trial with thoughts and despair, trying to bind him and tell him that he had failed and he was no longer valuable or usable for the kingdom of God. I want to read all of chapter 2 with you, please, if you will.

Jonah chapter 2. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly and said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell, cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

For thou hast cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed me about. All thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I'm cast out of thy sight. And yet, when I look again towards thy holy temple, the waters compassed me about even to the soul.

The depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars was about me forever. Yet thou hast brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

When my soul faded within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came into thine holy temple. Now Jonah says, I was taken into a difficult place. Now this is a message for all, but in particular for those who just say, Pastor, I'm just going through something that I don't understand.

I'm going through something so deep, so dark, so horrible. It's caused me such an inward focus. I don't even know if God wants me anymore. All your waves. He said, I've said, I'm cast out of your sight in verse four.

Waters compassed me about like I, if you look at it as a type of the word of God, I remembered what I should be doing, but I hadn't done it. Now Jonah had to be completely aware that he was now in the depths of this despair because of his own disobedience to God.

He was called to do something he didn't want to do. And so he ended up on this journey and now he's in complete depression. He said, weeds wrapped around my head. These be a type of regrets, thoughts of failure and depravity being down as it is.

I went down to the bottom of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever. When my soul faded within me, verse seven, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came unto thee into thy holy temple.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake to the fish and had vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jonah said, I will do what I once said I will do. Jonah was brought back to that time. Perhaps we're at an altar somewhere. He said, Lord, you have my life. Use me as you see fit. I'll give you my future, give you my heart.

I'll give you my life. I invite you in to be my savior. And this body has now become the temple of the Holy spirit. Let me be a vessel of your glory in the earth. And then he realizes what he has done.

And he said, I will pay what I have vowed. I will do what I once said I would do. I will as in Ephesus, go back to where I started. If need be, I'll go back to the beginning. If of all the learning I've had, if all it's done is close my mouth, then it's, it's not had or done its intended purposes.

I'll go back to where I first loved you. God, I'll go back to where I love people. I'll start again. If I have to salvation is of the Lord. And the moment he said, this says the Lord spoke to the fish and had vomited out Jonah on dry land.

Whatever trial has swallowed you, whatever is trying to convince you that you're of little value to God, and you're not going to make it. This trial is just bringing you to the place where you will stand in the city.

Hear me on this, whatever trial you're in right now, I have to tell you that God has allowed it. And you think it's taking you away from God when it's actually swimming you right down to where you need to be.

It's bringing you to that place. If there's one thing today that I feel the Holy Spirit told me to tell you, it's this, you're not going to be swallowed. You're not going to be overwhelmed. You're not going to go down.

God is not angry with you. Your trial, your depression, your despair is simply because God loves you. Jesus Christ lives inside of you. He has an end. He is bringing you to a place where you have once desired that he always desires that you be.

And when finally Jonah came to the place of saying, God, whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. I will obey you, God. Even if I don't like it, even if I don't want to do it, I will obey you. I'll trust you for the grace to like doing it, but God, I'll go out and I'll start to do it.

And the moment he said this, can you imagine this prophet of God? The moment he said this, he finds himself on a beach. He might've met a stranger and said, where am I? Anyway, Nineveh, you're in Nineveh.

I don't know where he got thrown overboard on the ship. It may have been a thousand miles from Nineveh because he was going in the opposite direction, folks. What the surprise, a surprise as if you and I shake ourselves today and walk out in the street and say, where am I?

New York City. You're right where you were called. You were called to be light. You're called to be salt. You're called to be a voice in the city. And this is where you and I begin to know the miraculous power of God.

One man leads 120 ,000 people to repentance and mercy in God. And his message was not even complete. He only had the repentance side down. He didn't really understand mercy, but in spite of it all, somehow God was able to speak through him to rulers, to Kings, to businessmen.

Wisdom cries in the city, in the gates, in the place of business, on the streets, wisdom cries. And somehow some way God was able to get through even the deficiency in the messenger. It's not about you and me.

It's about God. You don't have to have it all down folks. You don't have to know the whole Bible. You don't have to quote 50 scriptures at people. You stand and say, Jesus loves you. He has kept me by his power.

And if you turn to him, he will keep you too. Hallelujah. You don't have to sing Mary had a little lamb. You sing, Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. You know, I sang that on 10, 10 wins.

Anybody hear that one week? Yeah, you did. I sang it. Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so on the 10, 10 wins radio. It played 13 times. The station manager said they got more flack over that one than the whole year almost of messages of prayer and turning to God.

Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. We are weak, but he is strong. Praise be to God. Praise be to God. Proverbs 1 23 says, turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you.

I will make known my words unto you. Turn to God. That's got to be the message. Turn to God. There is an incoming to this world as we know it. And folks, anybody with a quarter of a mind must know that now.

This world is changing rapidly. The beginning of sorrows is here. It's at the threshold. It's at the door. The bridegroom is coming. It's not a season to be quiet. It's not a time in the sense to hold our peace.

We do not well in this day. One man leads 120 ,000 people to God in that generation. Now that's history. Now I was, I was thinking about something this week. 2009 census numbers the people, the residents of the five boroughs of New York city at 8 .4 million.

I was asking my wife, Pastor Teresa, how many Christians do you think are in New York city? She said, Oh, there's gotta be 500 ,000. And I said, well, I don't know. That might be a stretch. But when we had prayer in the square in 2009, 50 ,000 people showed up from the city.

If we take just some of the major churches, five, six of the major churches in New York city, we probably total about 75 ,000 people in just those churches alone. And yet there are hundreds of churches in the city.

I think I'm on safe ground to say there have to be at least 200 ,000 believers in Jesus Christ in New York city. There has to be. If you bring that into 8 .4 million people, it's roughly a one to 40 ratio.

It's amazing. We're not as weak as the devil would have us believe that we are. That means every professing believer in Jesus Christ to evangelize the entire city would have to speak to 40 people. Do you think you can do that in your lifetime?

Do you think you can tell 40 people that Jesus loves them, died for them? God has a plan. Turn from your sin. He'll make known his words to you and he'll give you his life. You say it simply, 40 people.

If all of the professing church, I think it's safe to say there's probably 200 ,000 sincere believers in Jesus Christ. But I can't help but wonder, have we fallen into a trap? Remember in the old Testament, Pharaoh looked out on the Hebrews and he said, they have become more and are mightier than we are.

So the only way to get them to think that they aren't as we have to afflict them, we have to get them looking down at their own struggles in their own trials and convince them somehow that they're not as mighty as they are.

It's a phenomenal thought when you just simply look at the numbers and do the math. Your part is to speak to 40 people as long as you live in this city. If it's the rest of your life, your part. If God gives you 40 more years, it's to speak to one person every year about Jesus Christ and the entire city could come to God.

A Voice of Revival in New York City

I think with all my heart, I feel, I believe that we're entering into a season where there is an inner cry in the hearts of the people of this city. God wants to do something marvelous in New York City.

As much as New York City became an international focus because of acts of terrorism, I believe with all my heart, the Lord wants to move sovereignly and powerfully in this city. There'll be prayer meetings everywhere, churches alive in God, God's people speaking openly in the streets.

I was praying about this message this week and I could see in my mind people standing on the steps of old cathedrals and buildings starting to speak about the kingdom of God and crowds of maybe 50, 60, 70 people actually standing there and listening.

We don't do well if we hold our peace, folks. We must find our voice in this generation. We must find our voice as the church of Jesus Christ. We must find our voice. We must speak. A great season of trial is coming and we can run no longer.

It's not all about our survival. We're not Christians just to find a plan so that we can survive. It's about this city. It's about this world. It's about this generation, folks. We must find our voice.

You must find yours and I must find mine and we must speak. The time of being silent is over. It's too late now. Remember the four lepers? They said if we wait till the morning, something might happen and we might not be able to get the news to the city.

We must do it now and I feel an urgency in my spirit. Folks, what we see happening in the Middle East, what's starting to happen in Europe, I'm not a messenger of grief but I can't help but feel that we're not immune to these things in our shores.

We don't know what tomorrow is going to bring but we do know that we have a season of mercy right now. There's a season of grace where people are thinking, where people are open. I was speaking to a man just a couple of days ago who gave no exterior evidence that he was even remotely interested in the things of God until I began to speak to him and he just melted.

It's amazing. People's hearts, especially in this city, to survive you have to put on this facade of toughness but inside there's a cry. God knows that he's trying to get it through to his people. Our prayer has to be, Lord, cast me into the city.

Jonah said, throw me into the storm. I can't live my Christian life just about myself. God, cast me into the city. Open my eyes, open my ears, cry out through me, plead through me, call through me. Give me your heart for the people.