If Jesus is Lord of your life, then He has the right to interrupt your life any time He wants to. If He is Lord, then He can interrupt any time. It was the devotional writer Henry Blackaby who said, "When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him the right to help Himself to your life at any time that He wants to."
A few weeks ago, I experienced a God interruption, and in that interruption, I had a 40-year Bible question answered. I'll get to that in just a few moments. A few weeks ago, when we were finishing up the biblical worldview series, finally the letter Z, I was just coming back in with Gary Wilkerson, David Wilkerson's son, from Scotland. We were speaking with a team of pastors there, and I had to fly back in on Saturday. I got into the U.S. about 11:00 and then spoke that morning here on the final letter of the biblical worldview series.
Then God interrupted what I thought was my rest time on Sunday night. A few weeks ago, after finishing all this, I was interrupted with a text and then an inner voice. It was that moment that I had to declare and recognize, "You are Lord of my life; You can interrupt any time that You want to."
Let me tell you what happened to me a few Sunday nights ago. I was exhausted—spiritually, physically, mentally. When I got home, I was just sitting there in the living room, really just kind of decompressing. Then I got a text from our general overseer, Pastor Carter Conlon, who was on the West Coast. He was in Portland speaking in Slavic churches. In fact, he said when he texted me, he was just driving by Mount St. Helens, the volcano, and said they were expecting it to erupt again. He texted me a picture of the volcano and said, "What could go wrong?"
That's what he texted. Then we were texting back and forth, just praying for you, Pastor Carter, praying that God use you. He said, "I was pulling into the church; they're expecting 2,000 to be there for this special service there in Portland, Oregon."
Then I heard a voice as I was resting that interrupted my evening. I remember Pastor Carter pulling into the parking lot, and then the voice said this: "Get up and pray for him." But I was resting, and I was tired. So I whispered a prayer, and the Holy Spirit said, "Get up, call him, and pray for him right now."
Now folks, I was with some of my family members, and I just got up. I didn't cause a big scene; I just got up and walked into our bedroom apartment. As I just called him, we caught up for about five minutes. I said, "Pastor Carter, before you go preach, I want to pray for you."
Folks, I'm not saying this to be humorous; I'm just saying it. It wasn't an incredible prayer. No angels showed up; Pastor Carter didn't feel this bolt of light. It was just a simple prayer. There was no shouting, no Ark of the Covenant, nothing showed up at that point. But because of that interruption and prayer, I found an answer to a biblical question I've wrestled with for four decades. God spoke something to me, and it's been a challenge ever since.
A couple of weeks ago, every year I read through the Bible, and I come to the month of October in my Bible reading program. I am literally just faced with a question when I read these chapters, and I've never been able to kind of see the answer or find my way through. In October, I'm always in First Kings, and more specifically, First Kings 10:11.
Here's the question that I would ask: How does the wisest man in the world become so unwise and reckless at the end of his life? How does the wisest man—forgive the English here—how does the wisest man in the world become so dumb in the next chapter of his life? I'm speaking about Solomon, who is renowned for his wisdom. But because Solomon's wisdom is so extreme up to First Kings 10, his horrible ending has become obscure to all of us, and we sometimes forget about how this man ended his life one chapter after being world-renowned.
I'll read it to you in a moment. His wisdom is a global phenomenon. Solomon has just finished building the Temple; the Ark of the Covenant is placed in it. There is prayer and rejoicing. There is a buzz not just happening in Jerusalem but around the world. Rest from all of their enemies, from all the battles that David has fought, is over. Rest has come; rejoicing has filled the house. The temple has been built, and now, in regards to his wisdom as this leader, I want you to read how the nations flock to him.
You'll recognize some of this. This is First Kings chapter 10. It said, "When the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke to him about all that was in her heart. Solomon answered all of her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not explain to her.
When the Queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants—like every detail—look at this, folks: the attendance of his waiters, their attire, his cupbearers, and the stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord. There was no more spirit on earth." That verse was explaining that every detail had wisdom associated with it.
Then she said to the king, "It's true which I heard in my land, your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless, I did not believe the reports until I came, and my eyes have seen it. Behold, the half was not even told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. How blessed are your men! How blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and get to hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever; therefore, He made you king to do justice and righteousness."
Folks, this is amazing. This is coming from a foreign queen. Then look at verse 23, two more verses: "So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, and all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart."
I read this every October, and then something happens to the wisest man in the world that has always perplexed me. That night, a few weeks ago, I felt like God began to reveal something to me. In First Kings 10, it ends, and First Kings 11 would leave me dumbfounded for decades. Solomon's story abruptly ends in First Kings 11. In First Kings 11, something goes bad; Solomon goes bad. God gets angry with him, and literally, First Kings 11 is a crash and burn of the wisest man that has ever lived.
Most historians don't miss this. Now listen to this, just everyone that's watching online from around the world. I want you to listen: Norway and Belgium, listen for just a moment; Costa Rica and Cuba, hey, listen. Solomon is 50 years old as First Kings 11 begins, and he will die eight years later by age 58. Historians say in the prime of his life, after serving 40 years as the king—he becomes king in his late 20s, many historians believe—and in one chapter, eight years are compressed in that final chapter. It's literally crash and burn.
As you read these verses, you're reading about a man in the prime of his life, in his ministry, and in his career. Now I want to read to you what happens and how I've been dumbfounded.
Okay, we just read about the Queen of Sheba saying half the story hasn't even been told. Your fame spreads across the world; your attention to detail. And then, folks, just as you hear about his renown, let me just read this to you and then walk you on a journey just over these next few moments here in Times Square Church and New York City, and those that are watching from all different places around the United States, listen now.
First Kings 11: "As soon as it ends, we run right into these verses: Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabitess, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and the Hittite woman from the nations concerning which the Lord had said—God had said—you shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you. For they will surely turn your heart away after their gods."
Solomon held fast to these in love. He had 700 wives—oh Jesus—princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David his father had been.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not follow the Lord fully as David his father had done.
Now think about this: up to chapter 10, he builds the temple and just does this incredible work. And now in verse 7, then Solomon built something else. He built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem. And he's not done. And then he built another thing for Molech, the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. And thus also he did for his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
Two more verses: "Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who appeared to him. God showed up physically and spoke to him twice and commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded him."
Folks, how does the wisest man in the world become the most reckless man in the world? How does the wisest man—how does this happen to him? I've been perplexed by this for decades because I'm going, "God, as I'm approaching 60 years old in just a month and a half, and I'm going, God, I'm in ministry for 40 years. I want to end well. I want to finish."
Anybody with me? You want to end well in your life? I don't want to just start off and then at the very end, you just crash and burn. You're seen as the wisest man on the planet, but now you're the most shortsighted, reckless, and irresponsible man on the planet. God personally spoke and visited you twice, made promises to you of an enduring kingdom, and warned you what not to do before it even happened.
That's what it says in verse 10. He commanded him concerning those things that he should not go after the other gods, and he did not observe what the Lord had commanded him. Three times in that section, it says his heart was turned away. But it also says God spoke to him and commanded him. Be very clear about that. His heart was turning, but it wasn't some—this wasn't an accidental. This wasn't blindsided. It was literally him blowing by what God spoke to him, what God already foresaw and told him.
Keep this in mind: disobedience is so deadly; it overrides even wisdom. Disobedience is so powerful. Listen to me now, those that are gifted here—whether to make money or to do some craft, to play, to sing—maybe you're here as an athlete or a Broadway actor. Maybe you signed a contract or are getting ready to go to college, whatever, or a doctor. Listen to me carefully: disobedience can override all of that.
No matter what your education may be, a disobedient woman or a disobedient man literally could sabotage a future. Solomon was wise enough to give answers and direction to everybody else but not to his own life. Life—he knew how to counsel everybody.
That comes to my career, my ministry. God help me if, as a pastor, I know how to give answers to everybody else's marriage, but my own is crumbling before me. God help me if I could stand in a pulpit and tell everybody else how to live their life while my life is slowly inside corroding. But I'm giving everybody else.
Say, "That's Solomon." But how did he turn this way? How did he become reckless? This is the part. Here's what I've learned over the years: God constantly and consistently speaks to those who listen and obey Him. Don't miss that. God will speak constantly. When people tell me, "I can't hear from God," I'm going, "Okay, what have you been disobedient in?"
Because I know, I'm telling you, after walking with God, He will consistently and He will constantly speak to those. It was A.W. Tozer who said this: "The true follower of Christ will not ask, 'If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?' Rather, they'll say, 'This is truth; God help me to walk in it no matter what comes.'"
I'll always listen to you, what the Holy Spirit is saying. But listen to me now: the worst thing that can happen to a person is when God is no longer speaking. When all you're left with is your own voice, when all you're left with is you listening to yourself.
Just for a moment, listen to me: Romans 1 describes that kind of person who no longer has the voice of God speaking to them. It's called "God gave them over." It's when God steps back and says, "You're not listening any longer. I've been speaking, but now I'm giving you over to other voices."
In fact, three things it says: God gave them over to three things: to direct their future. He says He gave them over to a depraved mind, degrading passions, and lust of their heart. Don't miss this. That's what Romans 1 says.
Look at those three things: a mind that has just gone haywire, degrading passions, and lust of their heart. Folks, God gave them over. That phrase means God has excused Himself from speaking, and now your own mind, your own passions, and your own lust are the voice that you start to hear.
Now that's the danger. That's what Romans 1 talks about. But how does it happen? How does it happen to Solomon to move into recklessness, to move into irresponsibility? And then I realized, folks, here it comes.
Then I realized Solomon answered the question for me. Solomon tells us what happened in First Kings 11 in another book of the Bible that he wrote. It came—it just spoke to me that night that I got up to talk with, to pray with Pastor Carter. It was a revelation night for me, and I pray that it is for you here.
I've sat in my office over 40 years of ministry with lives of people who have sat opposite of me with a besetting sin, a bondage, a life-controlling sin that has cost them ministry, marriage, family, jobs. They're sitting before me as we're talking through the consequences, whether it turned into a divorce or kids. Children have become a strain.
One of the most important things that I do, folks, is I'll read to them before we leave this office. I'll read to them a passage of Scripture to explain to them that what they do next will determine their future. This was where it all came to fruition, that Solomon answered my question on how First Kings—how First Kings 11 took place.
First Kings 11 makes sense to me because of what I'm about to read to you in Proverbs chapter 1. This is—listen to this—this is Solomon speaking, and wisdom is now calling out. Listen to these words: Proverbs 1:24. "I called you, and you refused. I stretched out my hand, and you didn't even pay attention. You neglected my counsel and did not want my reproof. Therefore, I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes. When your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord."
He says, "They would not accept my counsel; they spurned my reproof. So shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil."
Hallelujah! Listen, so that person who is sitting in my office, this is the question I'll ask. I want you to hear this now. I will always ask this question. I said, "Before you started talking to that individual, did you feel the conviction of God?"
I'll say, "Before you went to that website, did you feel the Holy Spirit say, 'Stop'? Before you stole that money or lied to your wife, did you feel—did you feel?" And I look right at them in the eye and say, "Did you feel before you were going to go out, before you were going to begin to go on a fake business, before all of that, did you feel the Holy Spirit speak to you and say, 'Stop, don't do this?'"
And every time—listen to me, people—every single time, people go, "Yes, I did. Yes, I did." Then I say this: "Listen carefully right now because you don't have wisdom for your next step."
"Why do you say that, Pastor?" I said, "Because you've treated wisdom with contempt. And so now in your calamity, you're going, 'What is my next step?'" Wisdom just said, "I won't speak to you."
I won't even talk to you at this. See, Proverbs 1 answers the question: How does the wisest man in the world end as the most reckless man in the world? And here it is, Times Square Church: I believe Solomon was warned before—not at number 700. I believe he was warned even at conversations at number one.
Folks, listen: Solomon was told, "Don't date those girls long before he married them. Don't get in a relationship before they even discussed anything else about the future." But Solomon blew past conviction. Conviction is the protection of God over our lives.
Listen, conviction is the warning light. It's a yell, "Slow down, slow down." Once he turned a silent ear to one warning, folks, listen, then 700 wives later, he is going deeper and deeper. They turn his heart; he goes after idols; he builds them temples. God is angry.
Folks, listen to me: when you read in the Greek New Testament, there are nine different words for the word "sin." The one that has always stood out to me is the word that's translated as "trespass," which means it's a word that means that you don't just get to the action. If you think about it, there are signs and barbed wire fences that say, "Before you get there, you have to blow past a bunch of warnings. Opportunity: don't trespass; violators will be fined."
You have to go through a fence; you have to sneak through; you have to can't tell anybody. What that word actually means is that you just stopped listening to the signs. That's what happened to Solomon. When you don't respond to the voice of God, then that voice gets fainter and fainter, and your voice and lust gets louder and louder.
The way that you silence degrading passions, lust inside of us, and our own mind is by listening and responding to God's voice every single time. That's what silences; that's what keeps going. It's when God's voice is listened to, recognized, and obeyed.
That's what happens. Elizabeth Elliott, the wife of the Christian martyr Jim Elliott, said it like this: "I really don't think you're in a bargaining position with God. He's the master; He's the command officer. It's not for you to have input. When He speaks to us, it's simply for you to accept the orders as the orders are given."
You're not in a bargaining position. Not in a bargaining position going like, "Well, since I love them, I can sleep with them." Who are you? Not according to this. He's the master; He's the commander; He's in charge of this.
Anybody that stands in a pulpit that begins to violate this, I'm telling you, get out of that church. Get out of that church if you see it in this, and listen, and it doesn't come from this pulpit. If it's here and I speak it, leave this church. This is the commanding officer speaking to us.
Listen, I'm not angry; I'm really not. This is a revelation that has gripped hold of me. I just said, "God, I want to hear Your voice."
And it gets nicer. Just stay a few more minutes, and it'll get better. I had a longtime friend in my office a few weeks ago who has a very prestigious job interview in New York City. He would be a solid, Spirit-filled believer in a real key position. He asked me this: "How do I walk in the Spirit in this kind of setting, in this kind of venue?"
I looked at him and I said, "Stephen, every time you feel a nudge or the voice of the Spirit, respond to it. Don't ever hold back; don't ever delay when the Holy Spirit's speaking to you."
See, First Kings 11 are the last eight years of Solomon's life. He dies at 58 in the prime of his life because he stopped listening. Now his lust and his degrading passions are leading him. One's not enough; two is not enough; three is not enough; 700 isn't even enough. He goes after 300 concubines.
I kept thinking to myself, "Solomon, have you lost your mind?" And the answer is yes, totally. Think about this: he marries 700 women in eight years. That's a wedding every four days. You're going, "What is he, out of his mind?"
I said, "One wedding is enough for me. One every four days? Here's our registry; here's what you can go to Target and you can buy plates. And all of a sudden, four days later, here's our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond. You can just go right there and get that. Here's our registry; here's our—I'd go like, 'Forget it, bro, you're done.'"
At this point, you've lost your mind. And he did. The wisest man in the world becomes the most reckless man.
We were getting ready to board a plane some weeks ago to Budapest to speak to pastors, and I just got off the phone with a pastor friend from California who had been sick. As soon as I hung up the phone, the Holy Spirit said to me, "I told you to pray for him."
And it was saying—we were running; we were getting ready to go to the gate to board the plane. At that moment, I knew I am not getting on that plane as a disobedient man. I'm calling; they fly away. I'm going to call this man up. If he doesn't answer, I'm going to make that—I’ll pray on his voicemail. But I'm not getting on a plane; I'm no disobedient man flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
I'm telling you that right now. I got on that phone and I said, "Listen, I got to—I'm boarding in like 30 seconds, but I'm going to pray a prayer for you of healing." Why? Because I need the voice of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need God to speak to me every single day.
See, when you don't listen to the voice of God, when I don't listen to the voice of God, we then open up our life to this exponential mess—700 times whatever. Think how incredible that is. After the Holy Spirit, I believe according to Solomon, after the Holy Spirit said no to the first foreign women he was going to marry, he didn't listen.
Then it must have gotten easier at number 10. It must have gotten easier at number 50. It must have gotten easier at number 200. And at some point, God had to just shut off heaven, and now you're just doing whatever you want. And by 700, your 700th wedding, you're doing whatever you want to do.
Folks, this is what I realized at that moment on that Sunday night: any one of us has 700 times of something lurking in our hearts. Every one of us, folks, it could be gambling; it could be sleeping with men; it could be whatever—drunkenness. And God is going, "It's lurking there, and it's waiting to bust out."
Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us. Obedience is protection against that 700. That's what obedience is. When you don't obey, then you open up yourselves.
What does that mean, Pastor Tim? Here it is: listen to the small promptings of the Holy Spirit. When He says, "Pray with someone," when He says, "Don't do this," keep your mouth shut, don't tell this story.
And if you make a mistake, apologize immediately. Okay, let me help you for just a moment. Here it is: when you feel that, when you feel upon you, and it says, "Apologize, tell the whole truth," don't exaggerate.
Look at me now: that's not the devil telling you to apologize. So when you hear, "Apologize to your spouse," don't bind the devil; open up your mouth and apologize. Satan will never say, "Apologize."
Satan will never say, "Tell the whole truth." Satan will never say, "Be generous and give in this offering." Satan will never say, "Be quiet and don't defend yourself." That's the Holy Spirit.
And some of you have forgotten that. You're going to hear "Apologize." You're going to hear "Confess." You're going to hear "Tell the whole truth." You're going to hear "Don't exaggerate."
I made a whole list of this only because those are all the things He has spoken to me. Don't exaggerate; tell the truth; confess to Cindy; speak the truth here; don't say anything; don't defend yourself.
I'm not trying to put it on you; I'm telling you these are the things. And I started to respond to everything.
When you stop listening to God's voice, you are then left with your own voice. And inside of Solomon was a lust waiting to explode into 700 wives when he stopped listening to God.
First Kings 11, those final years, there were no more chapters to his life. It was done; it was over with because he stopped listening.
Folks, I was—I’ve been reading through the book of Jeremiah, and you know the number one phrase I kept reading in the book of Jeremiah was this phrase: "The people would not listen."
I listed 20 times; it kept saying, "The people would not listen; the people would not listen; the people would not listen." And it was this challenge of hearing the voice of God.
This is the part you're not even going to believe me, but I'm going to say this. Musicians, come; I'm done. I know some of you are looking at me going like, "This is not true; he's going to go for the—" No, no, no. I want you to listen.
We are here today at Times Square Church because a man heard the voice of God and responded to it. David Wilkerson picked up a Life magazine all the way back in 1957 and began to turn through the pages.
He came to a certain page that stuck out to him, and on that page, he saw the trial taking place in New York City. As he looked at the artist's rendition in a courtroom of boys on trial, he said, and crossing the switchblade, he looked at the bewilderment, hatred, and despair.
He opened up the magazine to get a closer look, and David Wilkerson said he began to weep. The youth on trial were there; they were members of the gang called the Dragons. What they did was these gang members were on trial for the brutal murder of a 15-year-old polio victim. They killed Michael Farmer, a young defenseless boy. They had stabbed Michael multiple times, left him dead at the park here in New York City, and the story was revolting to the peaceful country preacher.
And then suddenly, a voice came. Here's the voice: you ready for this? This is what he heard: "Go to New York City and help those boys."
I did this purposely. You know how sometimes I'll put quotes up there and say, "This is who said it; this is who said that." One God said this one: "Go to New York City."
You sit here today because a man listened to—heard those words and didn't go, "That can't be God; that has to be the—I'm—I have a growing church in Pennsylvania."
Think of Brother Dave, who he is effectually known as. Think of Brother Dave. That is the argument that starts to go on inside of him: "This can't be right. I'm a country preacher. Go to the gangs? What am I supposed to do? Show up at a courtroom? How am I supposed to do this? How in the world can I do this? It seems impossible."
Folks, this is the voice of the Holy Spirit that we have got to become acquainted with. And you can—the more you obey, the more consistently God will continue to speak.
It was Brother Andrew, the man who wrote the incredible Christian classic "God Smuggler," who wrote these words: "God, whenever, wherever, however you want me, I'll go. I'll begin this minute, Lord, as I stand up from this place and take my first step forward."
This is what he said: "Will you consider this a step toward complete obedience to You?" I call it the step of "yes." That's what I call it. That's what I wanted to do.
It may have seemed so trite to people that on that Sunday night, as I'm texting, "Hey, praying for you, Pastor Carter. Hey, love you, praying that God use you in the church." And then the voice said, "Get up and call him."
To some, that may not seem like much, but I said, "God, I don't want you to stop speaking to me." And if what you need is just that simplicity, folks, here's—I want to give you a verse that has become part of my life.
Stand with me. I know this is getting even more of a miracle. Stand with me at 11:42. Some of you are going, "Does this even work?" Here it is. This is the verse I've been asking. Listen to this. I said it this morning: Isaiah 50:4. "He awakens me morning by morning, and He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple."
Okay, everybody, for just a moment, freeze and look right up here because here's what's—I'm going to tell you what your voice is saying. Because what we have done so many times, we've listened to our own voice: "Let's get out of here before we have to respond to this."
Let's be the F that's listening to the wrong. But do you think the Holy Spirit is saying, "Get out before"? Do you think the Holy Spirit's going, "Hey, this is your good time to get out and get your car"?
First, let me help you: that's not God, and it's not God going, "Well, pretend we have to go to the restroom with your coat." We know all the games, folks. We know all the games that go on.
Some of you think you're like Jason Bourne. We know all of the things. And listen, I don't want to be left with my own thoughts. I don't want to be left with my own life. I don't want to be left with any of that. I want to hear from the Holy Spirit.
I want the nudge. I want God to speak to me. God will speak to you through the preaching and the pulpit—not just this one, but there are good pulpits—through godly counsel, through conviction, a bothered conscience, through circumstances. God is always speaking.
But here's the part I'll just say, and then I want to pray for you.
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on Nov 18, 2023
