======================================================================== WHEN FATHERS COME HOME by Carter Conlon ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of men of God standing firm against opposition and societal pressures, calling for a return to biblical values and true masculinity. It highlights the story of David and his men seeking refuge in the wrong place, cautioning against compromise and the consequences of straying from God's calling. The message urges men to pray, seek God's will, and take a stand for their families, communities, and biblical truth, emphasizing the need for a spiritual awakening and the restoration of godly leadership. Duration: 32:49 Topics: "Standing Firm in Faith", "Restoration of Godly Leadership" Scripture References: 1 Samuel 30:1, 1 Samuel 30:6, 1 Samuel 30:8, Ephesians 6:10, 1 Corinthians 16:13, Psalm 127:3, Proverbs 20:7, Joshua 1:9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of men of God standing firm against opposition and societal pressures, calling for a return to biblical values and true masculinity. It highlights the story of David and his men seeking refuge in the wrong place, cautioning against compromise and the consequences of straying from God's calling. The message urges men to pray, seek God's will, and take a stand for their families, communities, and biblical truth, emphasizing the need for a spiritual awakening and the restoration of godly leadership. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Father, thank you, Lord, today. Thank you, God, for the grace. Thank you for the strength, Lord, of your word. Thank you for the anointing of your spirit. Thank you for the fight that we feel, Lord, just even in the atmosphere for the fathers of this church, the fathers of this generation, Lord. God, we thank you that we can stand and face this opposition knowing that we're going to go into victory because of Christ in us, the hope of glory. Lord, we ask you, God, again, to raise up men in this generation, true men of God, men who are not afraid, men who will stand against the opposing voices, men, oh God, who have the authority of a father, not just in their own home, but in their community. And so, Father, we thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. Chapter 30, 1 Samuel, beginning at verse one. Now it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire. It had taken captive the women and those who were there from small to great. They did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire. Their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Now this story is about what happens when men of God seek refuge in places where God has clearly not called them to go. It all began in this particular story with faulty reasoning. Those who truly carried the anointing of God, signified by the anointing on the King David, the man who was called to be king, began to be pursued. And it's a type of when society begins to turn against, turns against the men of God, as you heard, starting to declare things, toxic masculinity, which is just a complete farce. It flies right in the face of everything in the word of God. Men are called to be men, not called to be effeminate, we're not called to be as women are, we're called to be men. And there was this opposition that came against where the true anointing of God really was. Don't forget that David was called to be king. He was called to rule and reign. The men who were following him at that time were also called to rule and reign in the earth and to bring glory to the name of God. But in chapter 27, David just got tired of this constant battle. And he said, I shall now perish, chapter 27, verse one, someday by the hand of Saul. And there's nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines. And Saul will despair of me to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand. It's a type of just men who just got tired of fighting, tired of trying to stand up and be godly, just tired of this constant opposition. And the thought comes into the heart, well, I'll just back away a little bit. I won't be quite as radical. I won't be quite as vocal about the things that I know, the anointing that's on my life, the place that God has promised that he was gonna take me. I'm just so tired of the fight. I don't know if you've ever gotten that way. We all do. We all get tired. It is a battle. This is a fight. Since the day that humankind declared war on God, it has been a fight. And you can expect, Jesus said to all of his followers, men included, that in this world, you shall have tribulation. You're gonna, there's gonna be a battle. There's gonna be a fight. There's gonna be a fight for you to be a man of God. There's gonna be a fight for what God's called you to do. You're gonna be opposed. And the worst decision you can make is one that King David and the 600 men who followed him once made. They said, well, we're just so tired of being constantly opposed. We're tired of being vilified. Let's just back away and let's make peace, in a sense, with our enemies. And that's exactly what King David did. And his calling was to be a king. His calling was to honor and bring honor to the name of God on the earth. His calling was to protect those who, as men and fathers, are entrusted to our care. But he sought this false refuge. And what promised him comfort in reality was a trap. There is no comfort in anything of this world. And you will find that the anointing of God on your life as a man is going to be in direct opposition to the spirit of this world. This world is in open warfare against Jesus Christ. You know that. And as such, this world is also gonna be in open warfare against men of God. For the devil himself knows that as men, we are called to lead, we are called to protect. We have power in our speech. We are called as conquerors. That's what we are. We're fighters. That's what we're called to be. We're called to defend our families. We're called to speak into the lives of our children. We're called to defend our communities. We're called to stand up for those that have no voice to speak for themselves. We're called to study the word of God and stand as a bold declaration of righteousness. We're called to be a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. We're not called to cower. We're not called to hide in the back of the lunchroom. We're not called to read our Bibles just in the bathroom where nobody can see us. We're called to take a stand as men of God. And you will be mocked and you will be vilified, but consider the end of the battle. Consider that those who are mocking you and vilifying you, their eternal destiny is hell, a place without God. And the only thing that can stop them is when men of God stand up and begin to make a difference. The incredible part of this whole story is how David the king ends up eventually on the wrong side of the battle. Because of the compromise that he led into his life, because of the place that he chose to go, it's almost unthinkable. Chapter 29 says, the Philistines gathered together all their armies and the Israelites encamped by a fountain, which is in Jezreel. Now, the Philistines, whose whole purpose in scripture is when you read it is to swallow the testimony of God, to destroy the anointing of God, used of darkness to constantly stand against that which God had determined to use to bring glory to his name on the earth. So the Philistines in a sense, represent the supposing force of darkness that says, no, we will not serve you, you will serve us. You remember that was the taunt of Goliath. Every morning he would get up before the battle and he would say, you will serve us. Remember David as a young boy saying, no, we will not. We are the armies of the living God. You are standing against God himself and you are standing against the people of God. Remember in his youth, he took just five smooth stones and a sling and ran into, it says he ran into the valley to face that giant. Now, almost unthinkable, he's on the other side with the Philistine army facing now the armies of Israel. How in the world did that happen? Well, the Lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and thousands, David and his men passed in rear view at the rear with Akish. Then the princes of the Philistines said, what are these Hebrews doing here? And Akish said to the princes of the Philistines, is this not David, the servant of Saul, King of Israel, who has been with me all these days, all these years, and I've found no fault in him since he defected to me. This is a prince of darkness. Talking about the man was the Christ type in the Old Testament, anointed to be King. I have found no fault in him since he defected to me. In other words, we've not opposed him. We've not stood against him. We've offered him protection. We'd offered him peace. And all he had to do was defect in a sense from the side of God and join us. He's now aligned with those who are determined to swallow up and destroy the testimony of God through his chosen people. You have to picture this. What was in his head? I'm gonna ask him when I get to heaven. I'm gonna find it. What was in your head? What was in your head? It would be like Pastor Derek going back and defending the drug gangs and selling drugs on the corner and pastoring a church at the same time. You'd stop and say, what's in your head, man? You don't get on one side or the other. And here's David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, the one who could sing and drive the devil out of King Saul, the one that Samuel walked in his house and anointed him, and the spirit of God came on him, the young man who had the strength to defeat a bear and grabbed a lion as a teenager by his mane. Can you imagine? He grabbed a lion by the mane and slew him. I don't know how he did it, but he did it. The one who ran into the valley to face Goliath is now on the other side of the battle, standing with those who are determined to swallow up and destroy the testimony of God. I just, I'll never understand this. I won't, not on this side. I can't understand it. How is that possible that such a man of God ends up in such a place? The Philistines are known for cruelty. They will even kill children to achieve their purpose. There are people who don't know boundaries. They're always bent on conquering their neighbors. This is the history of the Philistines. David had once known the power of God against these people, and he knew their battle cry was to swallow up the testimony of God. It was all summarized by Goliath when Goliath stood on that other side of the valley in his youth and said, you will serve us. What is the voice we're facing in this generation? What is, what are you hearing every day on the news? What's being proffered in our generation? You will serve us, men of God. You will bend your knee to us. You can't fight against us. We are too strong for you. You're gonna bend your knee, and the way we say it's gonna be is the way it's gonna be. And for a season, David was on that side. I can't fathom it. I can't fathom how you could throw your hand in with that kind of an army and with those kind of people. But suffice to say it happens. When men are compromised, it happens. When men are not true to the word of God, it happens. When men are backslidden, it happens. When men have compromised their position in Christ, it happens. They end up on the opposite side supporting a cause that is completely contrary to everything in the Bible, to everything that God and godly people are supposed to be in their generation. But you see, something happens here at this moment. In chapter 29 in verse six, and Achish called David and said to him, surely as the Lord lives, you've been upright. Well, that's, don't forget, that's the devil speaking through this man. And you're going out and you're coming in with me and the army is good in my sight. For to this day, I've not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless, the Lords do not favor you. Therefore return now and go in peace that you may not displease the Lords of the Philistines. This is what's happening in our generation. This is what's going to increase in the days ahead. God will cause those of this world to reject you as a believer in Jesus Christ and say, you don't belong. If you can't figure it out for yourself, the Lord will use the people who live in darkness to tell you, you don't belong here. We don't want you here. Get up and go home. Go back home. That's exactly what's going to happen. You remember the governor of the state of New York in 2014. You remember his speech? Some of you have read it, right? He said, if you believe in traditional marriage, if you believe in the sanctity of human life, if you're pro-life, there's no place for you in this state anymore. We don't want you here anymore. I don't know how many of you remember that speech. Well, that's exactly what happened to David. If you really hold to biblical value, if you hold to a biblical worldview, you are no longer welcome here. We want you out of here. And that's the best thing could ever happen to the church. Oh, pray it happens sooner than later. There was a famine, Luke 15, the prodigal son. And it was a son who was far away from his father and from the heart of his father. And a famine came into that land. And the scripture says he joined himself to a citizen of that society. And he was so hungry, but nobody there would give him anything to eat. Nobody would affirm him. Nobody would provide. The famine was double. It was doubled in his own heart because he wasn't destined to eat the food of that society. He was destined to eat the bread, the bread that was in his father's house. That was his portion. That's where his strength was gonna be. That's where his purpose was gonna be found. Coming home, chapter 30, David and his 600 men who had been on the wrong side of the battle. Scripture tells us that when they came home, it was burned with fire and their wives, their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. I'll tell you, I'll tell you why. Our children are being gender confused in their schools. I'll tell you why children are, we're now even having the discussion of murdering children after they're born. I'll tell you why the prayer's not allowed in our high schools. I'll tell you why that Marxists are radicalizing our young people in our colleges throughout this country. It's because the men of God have not stood up and been what men of God are supposed to be. It's time for men to be men. It's time for us to stand up again. It's time for us. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. It's not time to cower down. It's not time to be silent. It's not time to let our sons and daughters be taken captive any longer by a godless agenda, an agenda of confusion, an agenda that's going to cause the destruction eventually of our whole society. No, it's time for men to be men. It's time for men to stand up and declare what the word of God says, unabashedly, unashamedly, unafraid. It's time for men to be men. And the scripture tells us in verse six of chapter 30, David was greatly distressed because the soul of the people were grieved, every man for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, bring the ephod here to me. That's the garment of prayer. That's what they would wear. Those who are called of God. In other words, I'm going to pray. I'm going back to prayer. And I'm going to find the will of God. Verse eight says, David inquired of the Lord and said, shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. David took the 600 men with him. 200 were so tired they couldn't go on. But he took the 400 that could. God began to divinely lead him and these men. And they came upon those that had captivated their sons and their daughters and their wives. In verse 16, he says, when he brought them down, there they were spread out all over the land. They were everywhere. The enemies of God, eating and drinking and dancing because of the great spoil which they'd taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. God, one more time, comes in supernatural power. That's got to be our prayer as men of God. We've got to pray. They were vastly outnumbered. There's an army there. They're probably outnumbered 101. It's got to be at least that. But they didn't care. They had a word from God. They'd been in prayer again. The spirit of God had to come upon these men. And they stepped out of their self-focus. They stepped out of trying to preserve themselves. They stepped away from cowardice and they began to fight for their sons and daughters, for their wives, for their homes, for their families, not just their own home but in their community as Pastor Derek is doing now with 115 young people coming and saying, you are my father, you are my spiritual father. They began to fight for their communities. They began to speak. They began to be led by the spirit of God. And the scripture tells us, bears witness, that they went into the battle and they recovered everything. Nothing was lacking, neither small nor great, sons nor daughters, spoil or anything which had been taken. David recovered all. He recovered everything. The prayer of my heart is, oh God, give us a spiritual awakening in this nation. Raise up men again, men of God. Raise up warriors again in this nation, men who are not afraid, men who will run for public office and speak, men who will get in pulpits and speak, men who will open the Bible in the morning and speak to their families. Raise up men again in this generation, men who will be heard in the workplace, men whose voices will be lifted up in the community, men who will get outside of the captivity of trying to preserve themselves. Only hope for this nation. The only hope is a spiritual awakening. And it won't happen without men being men. Guys, you can't wait for the women to lead it. They'll be part of it. They'll be in the battle, but you can't wait for the women to lead this. And don't you buy this lie about toxic masculinity. My God, the Lord put testosterone in you for a reason. So be a man, be a man. And you don't have to have muscles to be a man. Just be a man. Stand up and be a man. Stand up and take a stand for what is right. Stand up and believe God for your home, your family, your community. Stand up and be a man. That's the call of God in this generation. You start to pray. And as you start to pray, God begins to lead. And as God begins to lead, it's not all about now, me, myself, my preservation, my job, my reputation. All that stuff goes to the wind. And suddenly you begin to see, as Malachi said, the children all around you that are looking for fathers. And the promise of God in the last days is, if you will stand, their hearts will turn to you as your hearts turn to them. Every man here, you'll have an influence in lives, so many lives that it'll stun you. God will bring them your way. You know, if you would have seen Derrick Griffin before Pastor Derrick, before he came to the Lord, you would not think of giving him the Father of the Year award. But I tell you, if there wasn't a word, I'd give it to you today. You've become a spiritual father. And we have had the privilege of seeing his children at our Bible school out in Pennsylvania. And I'm telling you, everything the devil tried to steal, God's giving it back a hundredfold. Of young ones that are standing up for God. David recovered all. And so, men, I'm calling you with all my heart. There's a time to be silent, and there's a time to speak. There's a time that God says, I'm calling you. I'm calling you to be a man. I'm calling you to stand up and be counted. I'm calling you to pay the price. You know, we have our own Normandy beach that we have to invade now. It's going to take men. It's going to take men who are not afraid. Men who will trust that God will give them the strength. Men who will pray. Men who will speak. And I know you'll have the backing. You'll have the backing of every woman in this church. You'll have the backing of every young child. When we choose to stand up again and be men, and all folks, we've got to fight for this generation now. We've got to stand up. Enough cowering under the voice of Goliath. You understand? Enough cowering. It's over. It's over. There comes a point where we just had enough. And I say, world, reject the church as soon as you can. Get us all home. Get us back onto the right side of the battle again. Praise be to God. Thank you, Lord. I want to give an altar call this morning to every man in this church. It says, I'm hearing what God is saying. I'm pastored by the grace of Almighty God. I'm just tired of being on the wrong side of this battle. I'm tired of being a coward. I'm going to get up and I'm going to go where God leads me. And it's not going to be about preserving myself any longer. It's going to be about saving a generation, bringing them to Christ. It's going to be about fighting back against this godless agenda that wants to swallow the whole nation. It's going to be me and my Bible. It's going to be me and some of my brothers in our Bible. It's going to be us in a prayer meeting. It's going to be us saying, let's get up, let's do this. It's going to be the power of God, the spirit of God upon us one more time, giving weight to our speech. Influence to just the presence of Christ in each of our lives. And if that's in your heart today, and maybe also you might be here and your father is not here, your husband is not here. And if you want to respond to this altar call, ladies that are here in proxy, may I put it that way, for your husband. Proxy for your father, say, God touched my father. God touched my husband. Make him a man of God. Give him courage, give him strength. And those that are single mothers here and you have to raise your children, God will give you that same anointing. He's faithful to you. He'll be your husband. He'll be faithful. He'll tell you what to speak and he'll give you authority in your home. So we're going to stand. We're going to worship for just a moment. And as we do, if God's speaking to you, men, men, there's a lot of guys here. I'm going to ask you to slip out of your seat and just come. Join with me. We're going to pray. We're going to believe God worth all of our heart as we pray. He's going to give us a strategy for the future. In Jesus name. We'll wait for you. If you're in the annex, you make your way here. We'll wait. Everybody just come slip out balcony, go to either exit. Calling all men by the grace of all men. You might already be in, but if you're not, this is your chance. This is your opportunity to say, I'm going with God and I'm going to be a man of God. Greetings, mighty men of valor. Greetings. And for those who are standing in for your husband or your father, whatever the situation is, God bless you. God bless you. I can just imagine David, you know, once they'd realized the mistake that they've made standing before the 400 that were able to go into battle and saying, guys, the odds are against us, but Christ is with us. And because God is with us, all things are now possible because God is with us. God is on our side. The spirit of God is with us. And David would have repeated again to the men of that time. I fought a bear and won by the spirit of God. I fought a lion and won. I fought a giant and won by the spirit of God. And the same spirit of God is here with us. And God will give us the victory. All he's ever looked for is a voice. All he's ever looked for is somebody. Even in Ezekiel's day, he said, the land had become so corrupt, I had to judge it. And I sought for a man. He just one man, that's all he was looking for. Just one man who would stand and sad to say he couldn't find one. But by God's grace in New York City, he's found a lot today. He's found a lot of men who are willing to stand. The thing to do is pray. Without prayer, you don't know the mind of God. You don't know the direction of God. And let the Bible become your value system. Not old allegiances to old things. The Bible now is your value system. Make sure that you're casting your lot with the right, you're on the right side. Don't be mixed in your value. We believe in the sanctity of life. We believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. We believe that as a people. We believe that there's a good and there's an evil. We believe there's a right and there's a wrong. We believe there's a heaven, there's a hell. We believe there's a cross that stands between the two. We believe there's cleansing and mercy in God. We believe that there's justice and judgment for those who resist the love of God and the mercy of God. We believe these things. They're not negotiable to us. And we stand, we believe that we have the power to take back our children, to take back our nation. We have the power to take back our families. We believe that with all of our heart. We believe it. And we make no apology. Let them publish whatever they want. Let the ungodly say whatever they want. No apologies, no apologies. We stand on the side of truth. By the grace of almighty God, that's who we are. I've asked Pastor Teresa, Pastor Derek to come and pray for you, just pray for you. And as they pray, let the words they speak go deep into who you are. It's gonna have to be all of us. We're gonna have to take a stand. And it's not gonna be easy, but we have God with us. We have God with us. And my prayer is that this message will go out across the nation. It actually, it will on the radio. My prayer is that men everywhere will start standing up. Come out of the woodwork as it is, and start to be men. Pastor Teresa, come please, and Pastor Derek, and each of you, if you wouldn't mind leading us in prayer. Lord Jesus, I thank you for my brothers here today. I thank you, Lord, for the anointing to come home. I thank you, O God, that as your spirit comes upon them, Lord, your victory, your strength, and your courage will be their portion. I thank you, Lord, as your great love finds them and restores them, O God, to their place in you, that anointing to recover all will come upon them. Lord, only you know how to reconstruct bridges that have been burned. Only you know how to restore that which has been taken. But I thank you, you will be faithful to them. You love them, and you are for them. I thank you, every lie that is warred against their mind and their spirit, their identity, I thank you, O God. You will be faithful to give them a love for truth, a love that doesn't make them hard, but a love that makes them strong, makes them compassionate, makes them bold, makes them what you intended when you created him in your image. As you call yourself Father, may you share that honor, that title of honor with them with an understanding heart that a great desire to reach out to love, O God, young around them, to care for the young, to care for those weaker than themselves will come into their heart. How you will be glorified in this kind of maleness. Thank you, O God, for restoration, O God. We thank you for a spirit of restoration. Holy Spirit, you can go behind every wall. You can go behind every closed off place. And Lord, you alone will bring this life, O God, this new life. I pray you grant them peace along with the warrior spirit. I pray, O God, you give them wisdom along with taking up the sword. I pray, O God, in their courage and their strength, a kindness and compassion that is greater, O God, than just raw strength will be their portion. I thank you, O God. This is the hour of recovery. This is where your spirit will be liberally poured out upon your sons. Oh, I thank you, O God, for what's in store. I thank you, it's unstoppable. I thank you, you don't lose, O God. I thank you for everyone that turns to you. They are recovered themselves. You restore them and you are bringing them home, O God. Not just to stay in the house, but to go home and send them back out with a robe of righteousness, with a ring of authority, with purpose to their feet, O God. I thank you, they're going to be so fulfilled in you, Lord Jesus. I thank you, O God, you will quickly raise them up. You will quickly form these sons. You will quickly give them the wisdom of God, O God, because they are hungry and you are faithful because you are a good, good father. Let them receive, O God, the anointing of a son from a good, good father. We commit them to you, O God, your great love and the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, I thank you, you've received them. Now you will keep them, you will keep them. And I just thank you that as they love your word, O God, we will feel their impact. I thank you for it in Jesus' name. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Father, Lord, I agree with you, God. God, I see what you see, God. God, before you today, God, stands those 400 men of David's army, God, going back into Ziklak to take back absolutely everything that was taken, God. O God, I lift up every man that is represented here, God. Every man, God, every woman, God, who made the decision in their heart, God, I'm so grateful that today that you are pleased with their decision, God. And Lord, I ask in the name of Jesus for every man that is represented here, Lord, I'm asking that you would give them courage to be able to stand, God. God, I'm so grateful, God, that when you called them, God, right now, you're already enabling them. You are empowering them. You are giving them absolutely everything that they will ever need, God. And now I'm asking, God, that you would give them a greater measure of faith to believe you, God. God, I'm asking that you would do the miraculous, God. God, in every life that is here, God, do the supernatural. Lord, I pray, God, that every time, God, they open up the word of God, that they would be reminded that they come face to face with the God who created the heavens and the earth. I'm asking, God, that you would speak to them clearly, God. Speak clearly, God, speak clearly. And Lord, I'm asking that you would give them the very grounds that their feet tread on. God, I pray that you would give them the ability to become a father. God, that you would restore. You have given us the ministry of reconciliation. Oh, God. God, I pray, God, that even as we stand here today, God, those chains, God, that had us bound for so long, Lord, I'm asking that they would be broken right now in Jesus' name. God, I pray that you would lift every heaviness, God. God, every lie of the enemy, God. Oh, God, I pray that you would give us the strength to push back the spirit of darkness, God. God, I pray for my brothers, God, that today that they would be free. You said that where the spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom, God, there's liberty. And I pray that they can walk in that today in Jesus' name. Oh, God, thank you, God. Thank you, God, thank you, God. Thank you, God. God, I know that everyone that's at this altar standing here today, God, they realized, God, as they responded, that there is something deep down inside of their hearts that know that their life was meant for so much more than what it is right now. And God, you put that there, God, and today you're gonna answer. You're gonna bring it to pass, God, because that's the kind of God that you are. And so, Father, we thank you today. God, we honor you, God, we honor you, because like Pastor Teresa said, God, you are a good, good Father. And so we give you praise in Jesus' name, hallelujah. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/5SVuE_1sNmM.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/carter-conlon/when-fathers-come-home/ ========================================================================