God Has Chosen You

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City.

Yes, God has chosen you, God chose God is about to reveal himself to you in a way that you've never known him before. That's Carter Conlon with an insight to this week's program were glad you're with us today on a call to the nation.

In today's message Carter helps you understand that God wants to raise you one God wants to use your life for his glory and there are gifts that God wants to give you. So Carter's question is why are you waiting to accept all he wants to give you from acts chapter 22. Let's join Carter as he reveals God has chosen you. I want to share with your message, simply called God has chosen you, you might not be able to find them. You may not even understand what your life is going to look like in the future, but I want you to turn to the book of acts chapter 22 I want to show you what is about to happen in your life and the lives of maybe a lot of people that are associated with because there's going to be a last day awakening before Jesus Christ comes for his church just read your first Corinthians chapter 1 beginning at verse 26 Paul the apostle says you see your calling brother. Not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called but God has chosen to seek God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and base things of the world, and things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence.

So the point that Paul is making in first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 to 29 is that God has chosen God is chosen to reveal himself to you as he is chosen to reveal himself to others throughout history is going to raise you up in this last hour of time and your life is going to become a testimony of his glory accepted 22 beginning at verse 12. A certain Ananias development according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there came to me this is the apostle Paul not sharing his his own testimony. Any student said to me brother Saul, receive your site at that. The same hour I looked upon him. Then he said the God of our fathers has chosen you want to read that again, the God of our fathers has chosen you, but you should know his will and see the just one and hear the voice of his mouth, for you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard and why now are you waiting arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord.

If we were in charge of the kingdom of God and we were looking for somebody to be a witness. Probably the last person we would select in the natural, as the apostle Paul who with before. He was the apostle Paul was a man called Saul. He was an enraged man, a man standing against the word in the ways of God to man so enraged at a certain people group would claim to know God in a different way than that he did her claim that life had a different purpose than what he had found that he began to resist it vehemently, with all his might and always passion as a matter fact he was willing to hurt people so that they would turn from their testimony of having had a living relationship with God and begin to agree with his viewpoint on religion and on life and on his journey when he was heading to a certain place to bring more people into captivity. Suddenly a light from heaven shone round about him. Suddenly, the presence of God encountered him. This is my prayer.

This is what I'm believing that God is going to do in this last generation is not going to be by any might of our owner power saga be by pedigree is not to be by anything we have done, but suddenly the presence of God is about to come once one more time to a people would least expect it of people chosen by God, a people who because of his mercy are going to understand that they stand by Mercy member.

The apostle Paul said he considered himself the chiefest of all sinners the greatest of all sinners and it gave him a gratitude towards the mercy of God that caused him to believe that all things work together for good, because he loved him and was called according to his purpose and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me so I answered and said who are you, Lord, and he said to me on Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecuted.

You have you been resisting this all now there's a lot of people going to be listing to my voice and in the future and you have been resisting Godsome of the resistance is just a deep sense of unworthiness is not so much that you hate God is not so much as you hate God's people away.

Saul did you hate yourself as as somebody in one of the Percocet that I hate who I am and you just don't believe that God would ever use you.

You don't see yourself as usable in the kingdom of God.

When you look in the mirror, you see a drug addict. You see somebody's depressed and hopeless is a failure when you think about words all it's it's the words were spoken over your life since your child just keep coming back to you wanting to swallow you and you eventually embraced a viewpoint of yourself that God doesn't share this incredible dilemma is that, simply, you believe that your something that God does not agree with you that you are because he sees you as the person that you will be when you have a living encounter with them and you let him by the power of his Holy Spirit and through the strength of his word and his redemption begin to change your life. It requires the will to stop resisting God is that amazing will the only thing in creation that have the capability of resisting God the geese don't resist on the fly south in the winter. The birds don't resist him. They sing their songs in the morning. The clouds don't resist him.

They go wherever they're directed to go, even darkness.

Couldn't resist him and when he spoke light had become the only thing ever created by the hand of God in the heart of God that has the power to resist them as you want to think about that. But when you stop resisting God when you allow the presence of God when you just call out to him as a Lord I live in darkness and I don't know where I'm going and I don't understand the purpose of my life and and and I'm blinded to my future. I don't even see myself the way this breach is telling me that you see me, but when you begin to call out to God than suddenly darkness gives way to light and confusion gives way to order and weakness gives way to strengthen purposelessness gives way to a divine purpose that God is established for your life. Yes, God has chosen you, God chose you. God is about to reveal himself to you in a way that you've never known him before in X again. Chapter 22 verse 13 amendment was in prayer and in in his time of prayer. The Lord spoke to him to go and lay hands on this man who was a lunatic really a man who had done great violence to the church of Jesus Christ to men was known for his cruelty.

Could you imagine being in a permitting like that going to praying the Lord's is that I want you to go to this violent man.

I want you to lay your hands on him because I have chosen him for a divine purpose.

Talk about a commission from God talk about us stepping out of a permitting in faith, and I believe that God's calling us as the church of Jesus Christ in this last hour to actually do what Ananias did to to step out of our places of prayer, or seeking God's and leave it one more time he's going to choose the nothings the nobodies they the violin violently the date the people at nobody else wants his men affected citizens imprint is those that are despised by the world. God's is I want you to go and pray for them because I have chosen them to glorify my name in this last hour of time.

I'm going to raise them out of death.

I'm going to raise them out of darkness, I'm good.

Open their prison doors. I'm going to give sight to their blinded eyes and they're going to become my end time army of witnesses of who I am and what I am able to do, listen to the words of Ananias when he came to Saul who was to become the apostle Paul, I radically transformed man from one way of living. One way of going to a completely opposite course took to be willing to take away others. Freedom and others health and other safety to the place where he was willing to give up his own freedom. His own health and his own safety for the sake of others. Only God can do that. It was a completely different turn. In this man's life. Ananias said to Saul, the God of our fathers has chosen you. In other words, first of all, he comes in he says I'm putting my hands on you so that you might receive your site and I say we go back in acts chapter 9. Let me just read the story about the next chapter 9 verses 17 and 18 it says. Then Ananias went his way, entered the house and laying his hands on every said brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Two things you sent me that you might see the purpose the divine purpose for your life. You might see your way forward while you were created for your call debate and be filled with the spirit of God immediately. It says there fell from his eyes. Something like scales that he received his sight at once and he arose and was baptized. So there are people listening to me man said kindly. The scales of the fall off of your eyes.

You don't see what God sees you don't understand yet what God can do at some point in Saul's life there had to be a yielding.

He was formerly captivating people and and imprisoning them and torturing them. It was so enraged against the now we had to yield his life to this man Ananias coming into this and let me put my hands on you when I do know you're going to see something you've never seen before and in the way you've never seen it and you can be filled with the spirit of God. This is what the end time spiritual awakening is going to look like people that you least expect.

They're suddenly going to see things that the religious don't see the going to see God's plan. The going to see is power. The going to see his purpose. The going to see the. The reason why God has chosen them. Many said in verse 14, the God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know his will.

This is the first but you should know his will. You've lived all your life according to your own well and you've done the things that you've done that have brought you to where you are, so it's time for your will. That means your desires to live your life your own way.

It's time for this to come to an end. It's time for these things to die, that you may live, it's time for you to find the will of God for your life, and he said God has chosen you Saul, that you should know his will to guess, it is well when the spirit of God comes upon you, you will know is will it will be engraved deeply within your heart, your character, you will hear the Bible promises you will hear an inner voice that says this is the way walk in it you will know what his will is for your life and to see the just one to understand, in a sense the incredible love of God for you that love, that of God that caused him to send his son into the world to go to a cross to pay the penalty and the price for your sin that you can be brought back into relationship with God but you, you might you might see this incredible victory that you might understand the depth of the destruction the came to Satan and his kingdom when Jesus Christ died on the cross and was raised again back to life on the third day that you might fully understand the gifting's that God has for you. Incredible.

These are gifts you don't have it right now to go try to figure it out because you don't have it you don't have a gift until you get it to understand it's a gift it's it's not in you at the moment.

If you don't know Christ. This way, but the moment you open your heart to him. There are, the Bible says when he when he went to the cross and was raised from the dead he took your captivity captive, and gave gifts unto you, but until you are in relationship with him. You're not good to know what these gifts are so don't try to figure it out. There are abilities of God that will come into your life to do things that you can't do right now.

You'll be able speak in place, speaking words that that you have the power to speak the thoughts in your mind that you can't think without the presence of God to be courage that you don't naturally have the humility that maybe is not yours. The big gifting is given to you that you need to do work that God has called you to do and it will all become yours. Through Jesus Christ, the son of God. When you yield your life to him and to hear the voice of his mouth.

Hallelujah to hear that there's so many voices to the onto voices and politics and voices on the radio, and religious voices is Jack yak yak yak tactic all day does. The world is filled with verbiage just foolish words.

But there's one voice that has the power to raise the dead is one voice that has the power to gift like this one for us this is that has the power to say you let you leave your children to be out. I'll bring them home.

You just asked me and I'll do what you can't do this one voice one voice above air every other voice in the universe that has the power to give life.

It is the power to set free. It is the power to create things that aren't even in existence. One voice God has chosen you and I said to Saul that you should know his will and see the just one and hear the voice of his mouth is nothing better than hearing the voice of God.

He speaks through his work. He speaks through's strong leadings in the heart of things that he would have you and I to do, and he says in verse 15, for you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard you will be his witness. You not just not just a story, a living witness your life will be so touched by God that your life itself will become a witness of who God is and the fact that he does forgive brings people back into right relationship with him as the Bible says if the spirit of God be in you, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead will quicken or give life to your physical body you'll find shackles will be broken chains will come off your hands, your way of thinking will change to be given the promise in the Old Testament is will be given a new heart, a new mind and a new spirit. Oh, thank God. And still you won't be able to contain telling other people. The simple story that what God has done for you.

He can do for them and then the interesting thing in verse 16 is Ananias says to Saul, and now why are you waiting. So that's my question to look it up. Acts 2216 why are you waiting. What is your hesitation. I'm telling you the God's chosen you. I'm telling you that God wants to raise you up, I'm telling you that God wants to use your life for his glory and telling you that there is a is a supernatural life that you can live in God. The gifting's of God that he will give you that only God can give you.

You can't procure it by the amount of your own strength or your own reasoning. So why are you waiting. What is your hesitation that he said to Saul, arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

It's really that simple. Arise, stand up, stand up in your heart stand up in your mind what it whichever way you can arise. Just arise and say God if this is true. That's what I did in 1978 May 12 I pulled over my car on the side of the road after being witness to about these things by another believer in Christ. I pulled over my car on the side of the road and this is my prayer, Lord Jesus. If this is true if the mentor was witnessing to him. His name was Ervin. My executor was Lord Jesus. If what Irv is telling me is the truth. I rose up in that sense even arm seated. My car is a difference in truth, I open my heart to you and I invite you to come into be my Lord and my Savior.

If you were to see my life… Was a mess. Got a really really selfish nature really bad temper. I was drinking a lot. It was a lot of stuff really going on in my life that wasn't good and it was getting progressively worse. That's what happens when sin has dominion over your life.

You try to get better but you can't but that very day that very day something happened in my heart and I became a new person. It wasn't. It wasn't by any measure of me trying to do better. Something changed in my very nature to Natalia my nature changed.

Something came inside of me that wasn't there before and I know it today to be the spirit of God. He received me when in my heart. It basically said Jesus if you died for my sin. If if it is true that I can be forgiven if it is true that your Holy Spirit will come and take up residence inside my life.

And if it's true the W new creation the old things in my life as I was told will pass away, and everything in my life will become new if it's true, why would I wait while I close my heart while I put it off tomorrow so I open my heart that day. Elizabeth told hundreds of times.

I want work my regular shift as a police officer didn't really feel thing, I didn't feel a different one home, went to bed. Woke up the next morning and I remember it like it was of an hour ago I rolled over on the right side a bit, put my feet on the floor and I knew that I was a different man. I don't know how I knew it just knew something to change the something in the inner core of my being, had been transformed by how the living encounter with the living God and throughout my life since then.

In the 40+ years that I've walked with them of. I've known his will. I seen his victory. I been able to touch and taste of the victory of God and of heard the voice of his mouth and that's what I'm doing for you. I'm speaking to you on God's behalf because I see something that God is about to do in your life is about to raise up a church in this last hour people just like me, confused and angry and whatever your addiction might be whatever your distress is in life wherever it is that you're going is simply willing to meet you if you're willing to meet him brother Saul what are you waiting arise, be baptized, wash away your sins and call upon the name of the Lord, why are you waiting for those that are at home and you're listening to me this evening. Don't wait any longer. If you know in your heart that you need a Savior. Just pray the simple prayer Lord Jesus I give you my life. I thank you for dying from you. Thank you for taking my place and you suffer the punishment that I deserve for the things that I've done I thank you for receiving me and for giving me a thank you for the promise that you will actually come in the form of your Holy Spirit and you will take up residence inside this body of mine and I will be changed from the inside out. The Bible says, as I behold the victory of Christ will be continuously changed by this indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and I will become a witness to others of what you have done for me. See, that's the whole story of my life is just telling you God will do for you what he did for me than love.

Many more than he loves you that I was. I had my struggles just like you have yours in my problems I I had things that were spoken over my life that had me in captivity I lot of fear in my heart as well. Just like you do. But I heard a rose up as a God if this is true on the go with you. I would ask you to do something everyone is listening. All around the world.

I want you to open your home wherever your home is even if it's on a park bench shift over to one side and make the other side available and start inviting everybody you know that needs Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior invite the struggling invite the addicted invite the depressed invite those who don't have a good self-image just invite them all to come in become part of this permit again when were done praying on Tuesday night.

I want you to just simply need a permitting and call out to the Holy Spirit lay hands on one another and pray that you be filled with the spirit of God, I'm serious about what I'm saying in the simplicity of faith. Simply start calling out to God start. This is where spiritual awakening starts is just ordinary people coming together and sing God we need you and you really know you need him and you begin to pray and say, God give me your Holy Spirit give me God. Everything that I'm told is mine because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and have the courage you don't have to have a theological degree to lay hands on the put your hands on somebody's shoulders and just break God filled my brother with your Holy Spirit filled his room with your Holy Spirit, fill us with your Holy Spirit raise us up and let our voices in our lives become a testimony of the reality of who you are. I am so serious about this. This is going to be the end time army of God will have courage. My brother, my sister, you don't have to have it all together. To do this you don't need a degree you need faith in God. Why wait Saul, why wait Saul and Anaïs Curtis. It's all II know how deep your sin is been I know how much harm you've done to other people what you seek God has chosen you, God has chosen you might've been so hard for him to believe at that moment.

This God that I have fought against. And I've heard other people's chosen me, God's chosen hold the love I know the mercy of God, the goodness of God. The otherness of God. God's chosen you have the right to bring whoever you want in your house people you know from the streets's that wanted tell you something, God's chosen to apologize for that and you can open the Scriptures and show it to God's chosen God's good, here's your life for his glory. The message today has been brought to you by Carter Conlon from Times Square church.

For more information log onto TSC.NYC TSC.NYC plan to be with us next week for a call to the nation with Carter,