DYING TO GLORIFY GODby Carter Conlon

John 17:1-5: “These words spakeJesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven,and said, Father, the hour is come;glorify thy Son, that thy Son also mayglorify thee: As thou hast given himpower over all flesh, that he shouldgive eternal life to as many as thouhast given him. And this is life eter-nal, that they might know thee theonly true God, and Jesus Christ,whom thou hast sent. I have glorifiedthee on the earth: I have finished thework which thou gavest me to do. Andnow, O Father, glorify thou me withthine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”

■ THE INWARD CRY“Be glorified in me, Father,” Jesushad said. The scriptures show us thatthe time had come for Christ Jesus toglorify the Father through his death

and subsequent resurrection. The cryof the Son of God was, “ F a t h e r, glorifythy Son, that thy Son also may glorifyt h e e . ” The word “glory” in the origi-nal text is d o x a, the emphasis beingon that which attracts, making theobject described significant or promi-nent. I am convinced this same cry isin the heart of those who have Christliving within, the cry to glorify theFather through death and resurrec-tion—having an inward radiance that reflects Christ, the One who isthe radiance and exact representation of the Father’s glory (Hebrews 1:3).

This is a powerful message to theNew Testament Christian! It speaksof what God destined us to be inChrist before the foundation of the world. By the Spirit, we arebeing transformed into his image, (2 Corinthians 3:18); we are becom-ing reflectors of his glory, and lightsin this world, attracting and drawingmany people to Christ. This is anamazing thought! You are not just a happenstance, but you were in themind of God before the creation ofthe world. He knew you by name,where you would be born, where youwould live, and he knew you wouldbe reading this message today! Youhave been called, uniquely fashionedby God, and set apart for his divinepurpose. Even before time, we werecreated in God’s own image to bechannels of his glory, the expressionand radiance of the person and char-acter of Christ. I believe there is aninward cry in every true Christian,“Jesus, be glorified in my life. Let me finish the work you have given me to do on this earth.”

■ DIVINE PURPOSEJesus Christ himself is the Firstbornfrom the dead, and I am raised fromthe dead in him. What a glorious salvation! I am not hoping to have itsomeday, I have eternal life now, andhis life is in me now. Yes, of course, I am in a body that is going to perish,but one day even this body is going to be changed by the indwellingSpirit of God. Until the day he takesus home, you and I have been left on this earth for a divine purpose.Whatever it is Jesus wills to dothrough our lives, he must receive all the glory! There is a song the

church sang years ago: “Father,glorify Thyself. Father, glorify Thyselfin me, whether in pleasure or in pain,over my life I give you reign. Father,glorify Thyself in me.” Let this be theprayer of our hearts: “Lord, let yourwill be done in and through my life.Lead me on the pathway of yourchoosing, and complete the work you started in me. Help me, by yourSpirit’s power, to take dominion overthis flesh, which is so alienated fromthe mind of God, and desires its ownway. It does not want to conform, orglorify Christ.” The true cry of everybeliever has to be, “Jesus, be glori-fied in me.”

■ THE THIEF COMES TO STEAL If you are a Christian, there is adesire planted in your heart by theLord to glorify his Name. The devilwill come against you with everythinghe has to steal it from your heart. Heknows when God’s people are setapart and their lives radiate JesusChrist because things around thembegin to change. Families are con-verted to the Lord, whole communi-ties change, and at times even coun-tries experience revival. It takes oneperson to say, “God Almighty, glorifyyourself in me; guide me, lead me;take me wherever you want me to go, and let my life be an expressionof who you are.” We don’t alwaysunderstand where he is leading us, or how we are going to get there, butall we have to do is walk moment by moment with Jesus. He knows the way, and we need only to love and trust him with all our heart, and have the inward cry, “Be glori-fied in my life, Lord Jesus.”

“A GREAT MULTITUDE OF ALL NATIONS AND KINDREDS AND PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES.” REV. 7:9 w w w. t s c n y c . o r gISSUE 4 / VOL I I / JAN 06

WE AREB E C O M I N GR E F L E C T O R SOF HIS GLORY ?

■ A JOURNEY IN THE LIFE OF CHRISTMatthew 3:16: “And Jesus, when hewas baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavenswere opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like adove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This verse of scripturetalks about the beginning of Jesus’earthly public ministry. I want us to look at this journey, beginningfrom his baptism, the descending of the Holy Spirit, the voice fromheaven, and lastly, the wildernessexperience. As we consider these different aspects, I believe we willlearn some valuable lessons as weidentify with the earthly ministryof the Son of God.

■ WATER BAPTISMJesus’ baptism was a powerful reenact-ment of what was to take place in ourlives through the cross. Many of ushave received Jesus Christ as Lord andSavior, and have taken this journeyinto the waters of baptism. Baptism byimmersion means death to my old wayof living and death to my own valuesystem. I am dying to my old desiresand self-will, my stubbornness, andrejection to the will of God. I am com-ing up out of the water, believing thatas Jesus was raised from the dead andlives forevermore, so now I too amwalking in that same newness of life.

■ ANOINTING OF THE SPIRITThen the scripture says, “The Spirit ofGod descended upon him like a dove.”It was necessary for the Son of Manto receive the anointing of the HolySpirit before beginning his ministry(Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:18). He gave

his disciples specific instructions towait in Jerusalem until they too hadbeen “endued with power from onhigh.” In reaching a lost and dyingworld, it is not by our own might, programs, schemes, or power that webring lost souls to salvation. It is bythe same Holy Spirit power that Jesusreceived and that also came upon thedisciples at Pentecost; it is the sameHoly Spirit who is now sending us as he sent them forth to glorify and uplift the lovely Name of Jesus Christ.

■ ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVEDAs Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism, the heavens opened, theSpirit of God descended upon himlike a dove, and a voice came fromheaven: “This is my beloved Son, inwhom I am well pleased.” Likewise,we have come out of the water,received the Holy Ghost, and now we too have this deep inner knowl-edge that we are pleasing in the sightof God since we are accepted in theBeloved (Ephesians 1:6). You maynot have it all together now; you mayhave a long way to go, but you havethis inward knowledge: “I am inChrist, and he is in me. I have starteda new life, the heavens are opened,the Spirit of God is upon me, and Iam pleasing in the sight of my God.”There is an inner cry, “O, God, useme for your glory.”

■ LED INTO THE WILDERNESSAs we consider the experience ofJesus at his baptism, we see the HolySpirit descending, and a voice fromheaven saying, “This is my Son, Mybeloved, in whom I delight!” Surely it doesn’t get any better than that!Surely Jesus would move right fromthere to a place of ruling and reigningon a throne, right? But that is not theway it was to be. Matthew 4:1: “ T h e nwas Jesus led up of the Spirit into thew i l d e rn e s s . ” After his wonderful expe-rience at baptism, Jesus was led bythe Spirit into the wilderness to betempted of Satan! The evil one wasout to tamper with Jesus’ pursuit to

live an obedient life that glorified hisFather. The devil knew his kingdomwould be in jeopardy if he could notturn the Christ away from his singlepursuit to glorify his Father’s Name.

■ FIRST TEMPTATIONIn Matthew 4:3, Satan came to Jesusand said, “If thou be the Son of God,command that these stones be madeb re a d . ” Satan uses this same tempta-tion today—he knows God is not glo-rified in a ministry that focuses on itsown provision! There are people andministries today whose primary focusis their own provision; they look forways to “turn stones into bread.” It is easy on the flesh to avoid the hardplaces in life—the wilderness andprison experiences where the suffer-ings of Christ are experienced. Manyare led astray by this type of self-indulgent teaching which does notportray the gospel or the glory ofChrist. Even the unsaved instinctive-ly know this is not the true gospel!The greedy are drawn in, but thehonest seekers know this doctrinecannot be true of the Christ who bore his cross!

■ SECOND TEMPTATIONMatthew 4:8: “...The devil took himup into an exceeding high mountain,and showed him all the kingdoms ofthe world, and the glory of them.”Again, Satan uses this same tactic to tempt God’s people. He knows theLord is not glorified by those who lust for position and power. Satan had firsthand knowledge of this; inhis pride he lusted after God’s posi-tion and desired to be worshiped. The Almighty cast him out of heaven,together with one third of the angelswho had joined in the rebellion.There are many Christians today lust-ing for position and power, striving to climb the “ladder of success andfame” and doing it all in the name ofJesus Christ. The evil one gloats,because he knows this fleshly type of ministry will bring nothing butshame to the Name of the Lord.

MANY ARE LEDA S T R AY BYS E L F - I N D U L G E N TT E A C H I N G

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■ THIRD TEMPTATIONIn Matthew 4: 5 and 6, we read thatSatan took Jesus, set him on the pin-nacle of the temple, and said, “...Castyourself down: for it is written, he shallgive his angels charge concern i n g thee:and in their hands they shall bearthee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Satan’sscheme is for God’s people to be led by impulsiveness and presump-tion, which will not glorify the Lord.For an example, there are people orministries who make decisions andhave scripture to back them up, yetare not led by the Spirit. Some evenuse scripture to justify building mag-nificent edifices costing hundreds ofthousands of dollars, and then laterthey walk away from it all, leavingonly debt behind them. In one sense,it is like casting yourself off the pinnacle of the temple and saying,“God, if I do this, if I find a scriptureand just act on it, you will have tovalidate your Word and catch mebefore I hit the bottom.” Not so! TheLord is not glorified by impulsiveChristianity. He is glorified by thosewho follow his voice, by those whofollow only his leading.

■ OUR WILDERNESS EXPERIENCEIt is in the wilderness that the corevalues of your Christian life will be formed, not on a mountaintop. It is often in a place outside of thepublic eye, a place known only to you and the Lord. This wildernessexperience is not something the devil has brought into your life, it is a God-given wilderness and theSpirit of God has led you there! Justas Jesus was led into the wildernessto be tempted by the evil one, so youalso will be tempted. What happensthere will determine whether or notyou and I will glorify Jesus Christ. It is in the wilderness, this hiddenwalk, that godly character is formed,and we emerge changed, and ready to be used by him. Some people runfrom it, and lose out on the opportu-nity to bring glory to the Lord.

■ CONSIDER THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL The “wilderness experience” was a preparation time for the children of Israel before they inherited theblessings of Canaan. It was a time ofintimacy, a time of depending on theLord for provision, daily guidance,and victory over the enemy. A time of perseverance and faith; a time oflooking beyond the present circum-stances, and trusting God for thefuture, considering him faithful whohad promised! It is a people who say,“Yes, Lord, I don’t want my own way,but I want to live by every word thatproceeds from your mouth! I surren-der my will and my plans for thefuture. Take my life, and lead me in the path you have chosen for me, and above all, may Jesus Christ beglorified in and through my life!”

■ CONSIDER THE APOSTLE PAULPaul’s journey as a Christian wasfraught with persecution, sufferingand pain, leading him to his finaldestination as a prisoner in Rome.This prison was the place ordainedby the Lord, where Paul would writenumerous epistles, many of which we have in our hands today. Agabusand other well-meaning Christiansalong the way tried to dissuade him.Agabus took Paul’s girdle and boundhis own hands and feet saying, “Soshall the Jews at Jerusalem bind theman that owns this girdle, and shalldeliver him into the hands of theGentiles.” In other words, “Paul,think of the good that can come fromyour life if you just circumvent thistrip to Jerusalem. Why do you haveto do this?” But Paul’s deep innerconviction was, “To die is gain,” andalthough he was referring to physicaldeath, yet it was also a dying to thepreservation of self in order to followand obey the voice of the Lord. Hisdesire was for the will of God to bedone in and through his life, no mat-ter what the cost. He said, “I amready not to be bound only, but alsoto die at Jerusalem for the name ofthe Lord Jesus.” You witness the

Lord Jesus being glorified throughthe surrendered life and ministry of a man who was about to be throwninto prison!

■ GLORIFYING THE LORDTHROUGH CONTENTMENT 1 Timothy 6:6,7: “But godliness withcontentment is great gain. For web rought nothing into this world, and itis certain we can carry nothing out.” Ihave seen more Christians destroyedby ambition than any other sin—bythose who are discontented, pushingand jockeying for some new thing,some new position. However, thereis something very attractive about a contented person! It touches myheart to come in to church everyweek, and see men with a bottle of Windex, wiping and cleaning the glass pulpit. This is their min-istry. They may never preach behind that pulpit, but they arecontent to clean it! When I see this, a cry goes up from my heart,“God, please let me be as contentedas these men in everything that I am called to do.” This grace does not happen overnight, but throughdaily abiding in Christ, our All-Sufficient One. It is learning to becontent, not only with the talents hehas given me, but with wherever hehas placed me in the body of Christ.It is all level ground at the cross; it

is not just about what we do, but thatwe are serving in obedience to whatGod has called us to do. It is incredi-ble when the revelation finally hits:This is how we glorify God. We restin him; we yield our all, and allow hislife to radiate through us wherever wego. When we learn to live in the truththat Jesus Christ is our reason forbeing, and he alone can satisfy,

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LOOKING BEYONDTHE PRESENTC I R C U M S TA N C E SAND TRUSTING GODFOR THE FUTURE

everything else will fall into place in a joy-filled life empowered by theSpirit. This is the life that bringsglory to Christ! The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “…For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

■ WE TOO CAN WALK IN THISSAME GRACEDear friend, this grace to live that life which glorifies Christ does nothappen overnight, but as we dailyabide in our All-Sufficient One, wetoo can say, “I have learned to becontent wherever he has placed me,be it in the choir, in my marriage,with my children, or at my place of employment. I have learned to be content with the talents I havereceived, and with the voice he hasgiven me.” As we learn to live in thetruth that Jesus Christ is our reasonfor being, and he alone can fill allour emptiness, then everything elsefalls into place in a wonderful lifeempowered by God’s Spirit. It is inthis kind of life that he alonereceives the glory!

■ THE SURRENDERED HEARTThe Lord Jesus said to the ApostlePeter in John 21:18, 19, “...When youa re old, you will stretch out your hands,and others will direct you and take youw h e re you don’t want to go.” Jesussaid this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God.

The questions we need to ask our-selves are, “By what death may weglorify God this day? What is he asking me to lay down? What quar-rel, what bitterness, what ambition?What future plans of my own reason-ing?” God’s plan and destiny for youmight actually be Africa, but yourplan is to be head of a company onWall Street! Your destiny could be

to die on the mission field in fiveyears and you are resisting all theway. Yet your heart cries out, “Lord,why is it that you are not being glori-fied in my life?” He is not glorifiedbecause you refuse to stretch outyour hands and die!

What secret desire do you need totake to the cross? What unfulfilledlonging or secret sin is robbing you of the glory of God? Jesus taught thatit is the things we give up for himthat we get to keep!

John 12:23-26: “And Jesus answeredthem, saying, The hour is come, thatthe Son of man should be glorified.Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the groundand die, it abideth alone: but if it die,it bringeth forth much fruit. He thatloveth his life shall lose it; and he thathateth his life in this world shall keepit unto life eternal. If any man serveme, let him follow me; and where Iam, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will myFather honour.” The corn of wheatthat falls into the ground and diesbrings forth much fruit! Our excuseso often is, “God knows I am justhuman,” but the excuses, togetherwith our own ambitions, must die!The cry of the Spirit is, “Just stretchout your hands—yield it all to me,and let me be glorified in you.” Ibelieve that the response of the heart must be one of faith that says,“Jesus, I surrender all to you, be glorified in me.”

Carter ConlonJune 5, 2005©2006 Times Square Church

R E V. CARTER CONLONCarter Conlon is senior pastor atTimes Square Church, where he has been on the pastoral staff since 1994.

T I M E S S Q U A R E C H U R C HTimes Square Church was founded in 1987 by Pastor David Wi l k e r s o n ,author of “The Cross and theSwitchblade.” It is an interdenomina-tional church located in the heart ofNew York City.

Founding PastorRev. David Wilkerson

Senior PastorRev. Carter Conlon

Tel:212-541-6300

Fax: 212-541-6415

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e-mail: info@timessquarechurch.org

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DYING TO GLORIFY GOD

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