September 18, 2016 - William Carrol - Never Cry Alone

I want to consider with you this morning a topic that the Lord has helped me to understand personally and also one that I've been considering as I have been spending a lot of time concerning myself with the cross of Christ and in particular the words that he spoke from the cross and today I'd like to talk to you on this topic never cry alone never cry alone if you remember when Jesus is being crucified on Calvary he says a few things from the cross that bears witness to not only his personal experience but to what he was doing for the future what he was doing in regard to human salvation and one of the things that he says from the cross which would almost catch us by surprise is at a certain point he says Ellie Ellie lama sabachthani my God my God why have you forsaken me and you hear the brokenness of his heart there of course we know to whatever limited degree the Lord allows us to understand the weight that was upon him the difficulty of the moment we see it at Gethsemane as he's crying out as he's moving toward the cross and when he gets there there is this cry that comes from the depths of his bosom and we don't know exactly how loud he was able to shout this cry but we know that everybody around heard it and the first Bible says that they thought he was calling out to Ellie yah Elijah because for him to even cry that cry he had to lift himself up because the cross was designed so that you would kind of implode upon your own weight and you would suffocate and so every word required all the strength that you could muster and because his feet were nailed to the cross he would have to lift himself up on those nails and cry out le and there I would have come out because of all of the air being pushed up and his cry would have been emphatic le ah and the whole idea is my God my God why have you forsaken me now when we hear that we are reminded of something that I think should always be a part of our sense of worship and our sense of confession and our sense of honesty and openness to God when we hear that cry we must be reminded that what Jesus was doing was quoting a passage of scripture from the Book of Psalms and in those days they didn't do like what we do where we say to a person would you turn with me to the book of songs the 22nd chapter they didn't break the books up that way that happened much much much later they didn't break it up in the chapter and verse it was just like we see today if somebody begins a song with which you're familiar they say the first line or two of the song and the whole song comes flooding to your memory and so when Jesus said what he said the entire twenty-second song would have come to the memory and to the mind of every person that heard him and the thing that I want to remind you of and the thing that the Holy Spirit is reminding me of is that the cry that Jesus cried was an inspired cry because you and I know that the Bible is inspired that means that God breathed it so when we hear Jesus saying le yah and we hear that breath we hear that that force of voice coming and we feel as a word the wind coming from him we are reminded that this is god-breathed cries this is a God breathed concern and every single one of us if we live right in Christ Jesus I'm going to have to endure sometimes when we wonder God where are you now what we find happening with Jesus is he makes up his mind that he's not going to cry alone but that he is going to cry and inspired cry in other words he's going to cry with the Holy Spirit everything that Jesus did in the 33 years of his mortality everything that he did he did in the power of the Holy Spirit if you look in the Book of Luke 3rd and 4th chapter we find that he was filled with the spirit he was led by the spirit he was empowered by the spirit he was anointed by the spirit everything that Jesus did he did by the spirit and so when he wept when he cried when he broke his heart he also did that by the spirit and so likewise you and I everything that we do we do by the spirit anything that we do that bears witness to the grace of God we do by the spirit and so we should feel free to weep by the spirit Bible says that we don't even know how to pray the way we ought to but the Holy Spirit allows - groan he gives us this capacity to say to God the things that we needed to say rather than being dishonest and religious and so what we see happening with Jesus is he chooses not to cry alone but to allow his cry to be Spirit led to allow his cry to be spirit inspired and so likewise you and I have that same option now my question is how do I know when my concerns are spirit-led how do I know when my cry is spirit-led how do I know that when I am unburdening my heart when I am breaking my heart before the Lord when I'm saying god I can't seem to recognize your presence at the moment how do I know it's not a simple complaint rather than a spirit-led product well if you look at the situation with Jesus you realize that there were certain things that were in place and were always in place no matter how hard he cried and you see him crying from the cross and you see him crying and Gethsemane and you remind yourself that even though this is the most difficult time in his life and sometimes that's where we are like in the days of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego it seems like the fire is heated seven times hotter than ever before we're in a situation that seems like unlike their ordinary difficulties of life this seems almost insurmountable there is something in us that wants to cry out to God but wants to be led of the Spirit as we cry out and the only evidence that it's a spirit lead cry is that there are certain things in our life that are non-negotiable certain things in our life that do not change no matter how many tears are flowing so if you looked at Jesus life and particularly at that time of his crucifixion and you begin at the Last Supper and you end the resurrection you see for particular times where it is evident that the Holy Spirit is marshalling certain characteristics around Jesus cry for instance when he's at the Last Supper there is this sense of community this sense of communion this sense of family knowing that he is not alone this clear sense that no matter how difficult it gets I'm still going to break bread with my brothers and my sisters I am NOT going to allow myself to become isolated because I'm going through a difficult time I'm not going to the Bible says about Jesus that in the same night in which he was betrayed he took bread and broken and you and I both know that it is difficult to break bread in times when you're going through really serious trials our first instinct is to separate ourselves our first instinct is to hide from anything that might threaten further pain but the way that we know that we are not crying alone but that the Holy Spirit is giving voice to our concerns and at the same time marshaling around those concerns and giving us a bigger picture is the fact that we do not isolate ourselves from the body we are still a part of the bigger picture we still recognize that we are family and we choose not to be divided or conquered we choose to walk in unison we choose to lock our shields together we choose to fight this fight the way it has been orchestrated by the Lord that we should fight side-by-side that we should go one with another arm-in-arm choosing to trust one another even in times of difficulty you look at this communion and you find Jesus also choosing to give thanks he breaks bread with his brothers and sisters in this case with his brothers and he gives thanks to God how do I know that my complaint that my concern is not simply a complaint against God but one that is instead orchestrated by God inspired by God breathed by God drawn out by God because it's marshaled by God it's funneled by God so that it flows a certain way in other words God is saying to me it's alright to be honest with me you don't have to get religious on me but I'm asking you to help me to help you and so all of a sudden we see in Jesus this persistence in giving thanks even though he's going through a hard time he chooses to give thanks he is able to open up his heart to God and to say yes Lord this is a very difficult time and right now it feels as though you're over there and I'm over here it's a little bit difficult right now but I want to thank you for being who you are I want to thank you for your grace I want to thank you for your mercy I want to thank you that I can love you I want to thank you that even if I say why have you forsaken me I can still say my god my god I don't have to let go of that I can cling to that you see that's inspired tears that's inspired lamentation that's inspired cries that's when we can say God look I'm gonna cry because it's difficult but I'm asking you would you keep it in order would you keep me from going this way or that way would you keep it from going sideways would you keep it in focus so that your name is always glorified your name is always lifted up your praise is always going forth and that's a choice that you and I make and that's where Jesus says that's where we are and then you follow him into Gethsemane and you see in him a willingness to say love my will but yours be done it's a picture of a man who according to what we read in the book of Hebrews is weeping and crying with vehement tears Bible says that the sweat is flowing as profusely as blood and yet there is something of the Holy Spirit that is marshalling his concerns marshalling his fears and he's saying things like I can't do this I can't handle this take this cup away from me if there is any other way because our Jesus was not caught up in deceptive religion but he had and has a true relationship with the father hallelujah and he was able to speak as far but the way that we know that the Holy Spirit is inspiring that is when we can say never the less not my will but thine be done Lord it's a little bit difficult but nevertheless not my will but thine be done Lord it's it's hard today but nevertheless not my will but thine be done their Lord ain't it doesn't seem like the paycheck is coming at the rate that it should be coming or it doesn't seem like my children are growing at the rate that they should be growing or I'm not really happy with the doctor's report or I'm not really happy with my position on the job but nevertheless not my will but thine be done because I'm going to serve God no matter what the circumstance no matter what the difficulty no matter what the hardship I'm gonna give everything that I have to the God of my creation that's how we know that it's inspired tears because there's no falseness about it there's no fun eNOS about it but there was respect about it there is honor about it there is submission to the will of God about it we also see it Gethsemane Jesus being aware of the fact that there are sometimes places that you have to go where even your closest friends can't go they may want to go with you but there are times when the Lord wants to draw you into a certain place in him and you thank God as we mentioned with regard to communion that you have friends and you have family but there are certain places where God will say to them you stop here I'm gonna send my child up a little bit father and nubbly times when it'll be reversed and you'll want to go with them somewhere but you'll notice that God is saying to you you stop here I'm sitting my child up a little bit father and what we have to do is realize that almost times when God sends us up a little bit farther away he's saying to us I need you to come in a little bit deeper because there are things that I need to work in your heart there are things that I want to do through you things that I want to do in you we want to be in a position where we can say though none go with me still I will follow hallelujah not everybody's gonna understand everything that I go through there gonna be some times when you go through a difficulty and you call your friend and you tell them this is what I'm going through and they're gonna be why I know exactly what you going through so on and so forth there'll be other times when you just get silence on the other side and you'll think well you still there you know in your phone does that make sure you know because some things you just have to go through but when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into those places then there is no resentment for the people who can't go Jesus didn't resent his brothers he didn't resent his disciples he didn't resent the fact that they couldn't go he was concerned for them of course because he knew that they were about to go into a different kind of a battle but with regard to us we've got to realize there are times when I have to bring a concern before the Lord and I don't have to bring it to anybody else there are times when I have a cry that I need to share with God and I don't have to let anybody else know there are certain times brothers and sisters you're going to realize it if you haven't already realized it that some of the things that you go through it's just inappropriate to tell anybody else you just bring it to God each / flipper hallelujah you let him bring you into that quiet place into their closet of Prayer and you just leave it on the floor everything you just let it all out and then you'll find that you don't have any complaint to share with your brother your sister I think sometimes we forget that there is that place that's solitary place where if we let it out there it doesn't come out in the conference call it doesn't come up you know by the water cooler you know Hosea and we can just say Lord it's in your hands I don't I don't have to discuss it with somebody who might be infected by something that they're not ready to handle so keep that in mind that fast aside by that everybody gonna cost you know that's it and give back to the proverbial nitty-gritty okay and then obviously on the cross we see Christ's commitment and his consistency into your hands I commit my spirit see you and I can weep we can lament because we're human beings and there are times when we get sad it sounds when it gets rough but that doesn't mean we're not committed to the work of God it doesn't mean we have not decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back it doesn't mean that we're going to stop at all there are times when you and I might be striving against the lie of the enemy and it just seems like it's a really difficult night but you know at a certain point after you've fought enough of those kinds of fights you just take a half a second out of all that you're going through I don't talk to the devil very much but every now and again I will say to him that you and I know how this is going to end I said come tomorrow we'll be right back at it you know I will keep on keepin though I don't get how much sleep I get tonight I don't get how difficult it is comforting my rod we'll be right back at it taking care of this business allowing the Holy Spirit to leave me and to guide me I know it cuz I've been doing it for a long time and you've been doing it for a long time I don't question whether or not the Sun is gonna rise in the morning cuz as long as I've been here it's been doing it and I don't question whether or not God's gonna be faithful come tomorrow morning whether or not we got like we singing the song whether or not he's gonna wake me up in the morning and and stop me on my way I don't I don't question that because as long as I've been alive that's what he's been doing hallelujah hallelujah so I'm not worried about it you know I can I can weep and still know that I'm gonna be above the father's business there's not a contradiction there as long as I allow the tears to be spirit left see the key is to never cry alone but weep with the spirit allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to weep how to do it in such a way that there is never any give up there but you and I are consistent and then finally there is the resurrection and the ultimate victory and you and I can be absolutely certain of this weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah it doesn't matter what we're going through I mean it matters but it doesn't matter because joy comes in the morning lives are going to be saved through your tears those tears are going to become a river in the desert God is going to use them there's a little expression that says you know the blood of the Saints is the seed of the church and I would say that same thing about the tears of the saints it's the seed we drop tears and they're like seeds and all of a sudden they begin to raise up men and women places that we passed through while we were weeping and we turned around and we look back and all of a sudden there are trees growing wherever our tears fell because they're inspired tears the tears of the Spirit Himself orchestrates and the Spirit Himself leads and and he keeps us from veering to the left and to the right from veering into self-pity or from veering into empty complaint and it allows for honesty and to reach our heart before the Lord and to unbosom ourselves in his presence rather than locking everything up and thinking that that's religious and that's a sign of faith no it's not a sign of faith if you can't trust God with your tears faith says I can trust God with everything I can trust him with my pay I can trust him with my tears I can trust him with my hurt I want to pray with you this morning especially if you're going through a difficult time and these are difficult times and you say brother well it's a little bit difficult right now whether it be financial whether it be relational emotional spiritual just saying it's it's hard and I don't want to have to feel an obligation to put on airs in the presence of God or in the presence of God's people I want to be able to open my heart but I want to do it in a way that's guarded by the Holy Spirit so that I'm not simply complaining or that I'm not weeping all the time without any restraint I need the Holy Spirit to help me and you're saying I just want to pray and I'm gonna ask God to marshal my concerns marshal my pain get around my struggle with confidence and with comfort and with communion he'll help me Lord help me with consistency it helped me with confession to help me even if I need correction help me so that I can enjoy this resurrection life to the full so that every single tear that comes forth from me to produce life you and I have a father who bottles all of our tears it can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities the feeling's right infirmities who weeps with us we never weep alone never and all we have to do is be aware of it and realize our tears are not wasted our lives are gonna be saved as a result of it we're just gonna pray this morning she's going through a difficult time you just want to mess with your head on the bosom of God then on the main floor the balcony y'all come on down here in a minute or so if you're in the Annex let's get between the screens if you're in North Jersey now shoes will tell you what to do if you're at home let's bow your head before the great and holy God I stand together in the house of the Lord if God is speaking to you and you just want to mess with your head in his bosom for a moment you might not even know what to pray how to pray but that's okay the Spirit is gonna help you he's gonna inspire you and you come on down to this all the time it's in front of this auditorium we're gonna pray together live I believe God together we're gonna enjoy his comfort together his strength together his love together his mercy together God is gonna be glorified by the fact we're not playing religion would be an honest with being open he's a difficult times hard times and it's only gonna get harder as long as you and I know that we can go to God without concerns it was gonna be all right let's sing a song or two they were gonna pray the name of the great God in Jesus Holy Name Amen you have a large majority of the Psalms or Psalms of lamentation you know when I first started to read the Psalms you know and I would hear a psalm of David and you were going to times a week thing and brokenness and he would hear him saying Lord it's just too much for me and I can't give this on my own and I was I was a teenager then and I was used to like superheroes you know that me so I'd read the Psalms and I'll be like me well you know this is King day I would think that this guy would say I can handle it Lord don't worry about it you just sit back there on the throne I'll take care of business but instead it was nothing but God if you don't help me I don't have anything and it took me trying to live this out before I could identify with David before then I just thought to myself with you we can do this if we just clench our fists and grit our teeth we can make it happen but you try doing that for a while and you find yourself we think healthy altered do anything in my own strength and we find that lead is faithful that he does who comes and he helps us Father in Jesus name I thank you for my brothers and my sisters thank you that they have the strength of David the one that the Bible calls the strength of Isaac that one who is our strength in the midst of our weakness he is our strength in the midst of our tears he is our joy in the midst of our fears he is our courage God we come to you in gratitude we thank you for all that you are and we thank you that you are never ever ashamed of us now we can lay our head on your bosom and we can speak our hearts we don't have to play religion with you we can speak our hearts and at the same time that we weep we can say but I love you and I trust you and I know you're gonna help me I know you're gonna strengthen me I know you're gonna empower me I know you're gonna heal me I know you're gonna cause your name to be glorified at me I know that there might be weeping tonight but there is joy in the morning I know that there may be a cross but there is also a Resurrection Sunday God we thank you for your goodness thank you for your grace thank you that we have something to say to this generation thank you that we can rebuff the lie of the devil and we can say you can fight all you want but you know how this ends and we know how this ends God will be glorified God will be praised God's name will be exalted we can list the name of Jesus without fear and without shame because our God is God surname oh Jesus we worship You God we wanted to be heard all along the streets of Broadway that there is still a god and who causes his name to be glorified in the earth we Nestle ahead on your bosom knowing that everything everything everything is in your hands and everything will work together for the good of those who love the Lord and other called according to his purpose now God I pray your hand upon my brothers and sisters bless each one for your name's sake it's one for your glory and we will thank you for it and bless you for it in Jesus Holy Name we pray amen

Channel: Times Square Church

Views: 4,080

Rating: 4.9139786 out of 5

Keywords: William Carrol, Sermon, Times Square Church

Id: Fa06tsqE4kg

Length: 35min 21sec (2121 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 21 2016