Shouting “Glory” in the Temple

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. I tell you, in this church, we're not going to shake, we're not going to sweat, we're not going to run, we're not going to sway and swoon and bang and clang and shake and sweat, but in this temple, I want to see everyone in this house shouting glory. Welcome to A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. Carter promises that you will shout glory after hearing today's message, because in God's temple, everyone, no exceptions, everyone will shout glory, for God is doing something, God is doing everything worth shouting glory about.

Here's Carter. Psalm 29, the psalm of King David, given to the Lord, O you mighty ones, given to the Lord, glory and strength, given to the Lord, the glory due to his name, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Syrian, like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare. And in his temple, everyone says glory. And I like the King James because I believe it says shout in the King James. In his temple, everyone, everyone, everyone, no exceptions. In his temple, those who know who he is, those who have been listening to his voice, those who have been letting him be God, everyone shouts glory, everyone in the temple of God. Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus. That means you. You might have come in here shouting, oh, woe is me. You might have got up this morning and say, oh God, another day. You might have headed out for church only to run into this corn maze outside in the streets trying to get to the house of God.

And you say, what else can go wrong? But you come to the house of the Lord and I tell you, God will never fail you. God will never fail you. In his temple, everyone says glory. Now his temple, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit now. And so if I have the living Christ inside of me, there's a shout and I want to explain why it's not just a word that we say.

There's something behind this word. There's something that causes us to come into the presence of God. And not just when we meet corporately on Sunday or Tuesday or whatever day, but when we get up and we're all alone in the morning, there's something in this temple that allows us to shout glory as we begin our day.

There's something inside this temple that lets us shout glory when the day is over, whether it's been a good day or a bad day, it doesn't change who God is inside of us. The Lord, verse 10 in Psalm 29 sat enthroned at the flood. The Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to his people.

The Lord will bless his people with peace. Now this Psalm is about worship. It's about a kind of worship that when people witness it, especially people who are outside of the kingdom of God, this worship convinces them of the reality of God. David, the King again in Psalm 40 talks about it.

He describes it beginning at verse one. He says, I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and he heard my cry and he brought me up out of a horrible pit. In other words, a place I couldn't get out in my own strength. I don't know how to get out. I've been in it so long.

I've given up hope of even getting out in my own strength. It can be an issue of character. It can be something deeply entrenched in your life.

It can be something that produces sorrow in your heart because you don't know how you're ever going to get out. Will this ever change? Will I ever know this new life and this abundant life in this area of my heart that God has promised me? Will it ever, will it ever come? And that's a legitimate question that comes to the honest seeker of God.

You're not some kind of an aberration because that question is in your heart today. If you're a sincere seeker of God, some things will change easy. You know, when you come into the kingdom of God, there'll be things in your life that pass away almost immediately. You know, the scripture says, if anyone is in Christ, is a new creation, the old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And there are just some things that go easy.

But then there's other things. They've just been there so long and they've been there. They were there in your grandpa.

They were there as your dad or mom. And now they're there in you. And you're just saying, God, how do I get out of this?

How do I get over this bad temper? How do I escape this constant gnawing at my inner person that I'll never be free from these things? He says, he brought me up out of a horrible pit, not just a pit, a horrible pit. Out of the miry clay, out of a place, David says, where I was sinking deeper every day. I was getting more discouraged because I just didn't see the victory coming my way.

And I kept feeling every day like it's not getting better, it's getting worse. And he set my feet upon a rock and he established my steps and put a new song in my mouth. Praise to our God. Many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord.

He put a new song in me. Not the old song, not a song of human effort, a song of confidence in who God is and what God has done, what God will do, what God will continue to do. A song of glorious praise to him. And the song, as I've often shared from this pulpit, is deeper than a melody. It's in your countenance. It's something inside of you as a believer in Jesus Christ, when you've come to the place where you've won a victory that you know only God could have given you. Hallelujah.

Some people think that if we clap our hands louder, we sing at the top of our voices. If we run up and down the aisles of the church, if we wave flags, banners, and ribbons, if we put on a wonderful light show, if we sway, swoon, bang, clang, shake, and sweat, that this is going to glorify Christ and compel people to surrender to him. And I've seen all of it, folks, over the years.

I've seen the ribbons, flags, banners, bangs, clang, swoon, sweat, run. I've watched it all and I've watched our young people and I've watched people outside the kingdom of God just look at it, unmoved, unchallenged, unchanged, no trembling in the heart. Because what we're doing sometimes when we do these things, they could do.

If they decided they could do it. The Bible's not talking about that kind of worship. The Bible's talking about a kind of a worship in the house of God that they can't do. That only those who are redeemed can really do this kind of worship. In Psalm 40 verse 4, David says, blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust and does not respect the proud nor such as turn aside to lies.

And here's what David's saying. This is a kind of a worship that has turned away from human strategy. It's turned away from human effort and it has fully embraced the faithfulness of God. It has given up trying to get out of the pit in its own strength.

It's given up trying to change in its own strength and it's come to the word of God and says, God, this is what you said. And if I'm ever going to be this, it's going to be your Holy Spirit within me that's going to produce this. So I choose to believe you. I'm not going to believe my circumstance.

I'm not going to believe my heritage. I'm not going to believe that the frailty of my own heart. For even if my heart condemns me, the scripture says God is greater than my heart.

So I'm not going to believe any of these things. I'm making the choice to believe your word, Oh God. And that's what David did. If you go back to Psalm 18, David talked about a time in his life in verse 4, he says, where the pangs of death surrounded him, floods of ungodly this made him afraid things around him and within him. The sorrows of sale surrounded me. The snares of death confronted me in my distress.

I called upon the Lord and I cried out to my God and he heard my voice from his temple and my cry came before him even to his ears. Have you ever been in a place like that? Well, you just don't know how you're going to get out. You don't know how you're going to find the strength that you need to go forward. You don't know where you're going to find the love that is required of you in a particular situation or the patience where you're going to find the faith to believe for that son or daughter that no matter how much you pray, they seem to be going farther and farther away from God. And it's breaking your heart and you're coming into the house of God and you want to worship.

But it's so difficult. It seems like hell and all of its distresses are surrounding you. But in verse 27, David says, for you will save the humble people, but you will bring down haughty looks. You will save those who have come into your presence and they say, God, I can't do this in my own strength, but Lord, you can. And so I'm coming in to your presence and I'm casting myself, I'm casting my confidence upon you. I'm not going to try to get out of this by myself.

A type of the people of God when they came to the shores of the Red Sea, behind them is an enemy that's threatening to catch them and devour them and ahead of them is a place that looks impossible. And eventually all of us who walk with God come to these places where we say, Lord, I can't go back. I'm going to get killed there and I can't go forward because I don't have the power to walk through what's ahead of me. And so Lord, I'm going to trust you.

I'm going to trust you because I don't have a plan. I don't have enough strength. I can't pick myself up.

I can't do this in my own power. That's why David says, you will save the humble people for you will lighten my lamp. Verse 28, the Lord will enlighten my darkness for by you I can run against a troop for by my God I can leap over a wall. And as for the, for God, his way is perfect.

The word of the Lord is proven. He's a shield to all who trust in him for who is God except the Lord and who is a rock except our God. It is God who arms me with strength. He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and sets me upon my high places. In other words, it gives me the power to climb.

David knew he was in a horrible pit. David knew he could never get out in his own strength, but God gave him the power. He teaches my hands to war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You've given me the shield of your salvation.

Your right hand has held me up and your gentleness has made me great. Verse 36 Psalm 18 you enlarged my path under me so that my feet did not slip. I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them. And neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. I have wounded them so that they could not rise. They're falling under my feet for you have armed me with strength for the battle you have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

You've also given me the next of mine enemies so that I destroyed those who hated me. They cried out, but there was none to save them, even to the Lord, but he did not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind and I cast them out like dirt in the streets. And then David goes on in verse 46. He says the Lord lives blessed be my rock. Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God who avenges me and subdues the people under me. He delivers me from mine enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me.

You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to you O Lord among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. In other words, David said, I will praise you among those who don't yet belong to you. I will praise you.

You see Psalm 18 does tie into Psalm 29, Psalm 40 David saying, God, only you could have done this. Only you could have given me the strength that I have. Only you could have given me the power to not only escape but turn back and destroy the things that tried to destroy me. I took them by the neck and I cast them into the streets like dirt and I said to them, you will never reign over my life again. You will never dominate my mind. You will never have my family. You will never take my testimony.

You will never steal my song for God has given me power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt me. And I am persuaded that not height nor depth nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.

Oh, thank God. That's why David starts out Psalm 29 and he says, give unto the Lord all you mighty ones. God calls you mighty.

Amazing, isn't it? You look at yourself and say, God, are you pointing at the person behind me or beside me? That's what Gideon said when messenger of the Lord appeared to him and the Midianites are coming in to devour. It's an enemy army that's coming in to take everything and sometimes you feel like that. You're trying to live for God and the enemy's coming in and threatening to say, I'm going to take everything. I'm going to take your sanity. I'm going to take your family. I'm going to take your testimony. I'm going to take your song. I'm going to take your ministry. I'm going to take your future. I'm going to take your hope.

I'm going to take it all. And that's what the Midianites did at an appointed season every year. And the messenger of the Lord came to this young man called Gideon and greeted him. Greetings, mighty man of resources.

And Gideon looked at the messenger and said, are you sure you have the right person? My tribe is the least in all the tribes of Israel. My family is the least in all the families of the least tribe. My father is the least house of all the least families of all the least tribe. And I'm the least in my father's house who's the least in his family who's the least of the least tribal, the least powerful. It's like God went to the bottom and said, here's somebody in a pit just like David was in Psalm 40 says, greetings, mighty man of resources.

How will I do this thing? Gideon said to God, how will I do this thing that you're calling me to do? And the Lord spoke and said, it's because I've sent you, you will do it.

You don't need anything else. I've sent you. I've sent you to do something. Do you understand here? Every one of you who know Christ, you've been sent to do something that only God can do through you.

You know that. Do you understand that? You're not just an orange pylon in this game for people to run around who are serving God.

You're not just a head that fills a seat. You're called to do something that nobody else can do. And you're called to do something that you can't do. Only God can do it through you. Only God, only God can do it. That's why he says, give to the Lord. Oh, you mighty ones. Give to the Lord, glory and strength. Thank God.

In other words, here's what it means in the original. Give to the Lord, bring honor to him. Let him be esteemed. Let the weight of God be upon you. Let the abundance of God be in you and bring praise to his name.

Give him glory. Let God be God in you. Let God carry you.

Let God take you. Let God do what he wants to do through your life and worship him in the beauty of holiness. That means worship him in the beauty of bringing to him a trusting heart, a life that is growing in grace, moving forward by God's power from strength to strength, even as by the spirit of the Lord. Give unto the Lord.

Oh, you mighty ones. In other words, come into the house of God. And when you come into the house of God, you're coming in and your worship is now encompassed by a heart that has to acknowledge that God, what you called me to do only you could be doing through me. Suddenly I have a realization that there are giftings in my life I didn't have. I'm starting to think thoughts that I never thought before, good thoughts. I'm starting to have faith.

It was never part of my life. The old things that governed me for so many years as David said are now in the dust and they can't rise. They have no power over me anymore.

Yes, they yell at me, but the yelling from the dust, they have no power. And I'm starting to become another person than the person I was before you came into my life. I'm starting to realize that I am indeed a new creation in Christ Jesus. And then you do have a divine plan for my life and nobody else can do what you've called me to do.

And I can't do it either. And that's what makes us such a wonderful walk. And when we realize I can't do it either, only God could do this. And so we yield our bodies as the writer says in the New Testament as a living sacrifice to God, which is our reasonable service.

That's the beginning of it. We say, God, let your plan be mine. Let your will be my will. Let your strength become my strength. Rise up within me and overshadow my frailties and bring glory to your name. Glory.

Do something so powerful in my life. Now may not be public, but it will be powerful. The people who know you will know this.

People who walk with you every day, they'll see the difference. Praise be to God. But in his temple, does everyone shout glory? Everyone in the church of Jesus Christ should have that inner shout of glory in the presence of God. That inner awareness that I'm changing into the very person that God designed me to be. Not what the world said I am and not what my own heart tells me I will be, but the person that God said I'm going to be.

And that person is going to give glory to him. It doesn't matter how much I teach in this pulpit. It doesn't matter how many sermons you hear, how many tapes, how many songs you sing, how many churches you visit.

None of it matters if you don't lay hold of the simple truth you've heard. The Christ in me is the hope of glory. And what makes this an exciting life is that he changes us from image to image, glory to glory by the Spirit of God. He makes me into what I could never be in my own strength. He takes me where I could never hope to go.

He gives me what I could never possess in any amount of human effort. And he puts a song inside of me that brings glory to him and to him alone. In his temple, in his temple, in his temple, I tell you in this church, we're not going to shake, we're not going to sweat, we're not going to run, we're not going to do all this stuff and sway and swoon and bang and clang and shake and sweat. But in this temple, I want to see everyone in this house shouting glory because God is doing something. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Glory to the name of Jesus. There will never in this house be gimmicks to try to get you to worship God.

Never, never, never, as long as this church exists, there will never be gimmicks here. The worship's got to be real or there will be no worship at all. It has to come from inside of us because that's where true worship comes from.

True worship comes from the man or the woman coming into the presence of God saying, God, thank you for what you're doing in my life. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. You're setting me free. You're giving me new life. You're giving me victories.

Yes. And even my defeats, there's even sweetness in my defeats because I'm learning that I have to trust in you more and more every day. And God, as I do, you're not going to disappoint me. You're not going to let me fall.

You're not going to let my enemy triumph over me. You're going to give me a song and people will see it and begin to trust in God. Glory to the name of Jesus. Glory to the name of Jesus. God help any church that needs gimmicks to get the people to worship. Glory to Jesus.

We should be able to stand here with nothing more than a microphone. If we even had that, if nobody could get to church on Sunday morning because they're running in the streets, we should be able to stand here and there should be a shout of glory comes from inside of you and I. In his temple, everyone says glory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Thank you Lord. Thank you mighty God. Thank you mighty God. Thank you Lord.

Thank you Jesus. So we can say, I'm not going under, I'm going over. I'm not running away. I'm running towards my enemies. God is going to gird me with strength. He's going to give me power to climb out of these places of despair.

He's going to give me the strength to break a bow of steel with my arms. It is God that girds me with strength. It is God that gives me power.

It is God who's going to make me everything he's called me to be and that's going to be my song and that's going to be my testimony. It is God. It is God. It is God. It is only God.

Hallelujah to the name of God. It is only him. It's only him. It's all him.

Everything is about him. I believe in my heart. We got one more run in our generation of being the church of Jesus Christ. Again, we got one more chance, one more invitation, one more opportunity to stand with the glory, the grace of God in our hearts and make a difference in our generation. We're going to stomp the devil in our neighborhoods and our friends and our families, in our minds and our hearts and our lives. We're going with God. We're going with God and we're going to shout glory in the temple of God. Hallelujah. You've been listening to Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. For more information and resources to help you in your walk in Christ, log on to tsc.nyc. And be sure to be with us next week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon.