The Hallelujah Factor Series
Based upon Jack Taylor’s book The Hallelujah Factor
The Perspective of Praise
June 17, 2007 FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor
Introduction
A One of the six purposes of our churches is to worship God, praise.
1 Mouse: Will People Embrace Domesticated Farm Mice
a Worship, prayer, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, & ministry
b Many see praise/worship as what they do, or where they go at 10:30 on Sunday morning.
aa When we define our praise as such...we’re missing what praise is intended to be scripturally.
bb Praise is what we are called to daily (7x’s a day)
2 The emphasis on this series is on private worship (daily intimacy through praising God)
a I am convinced that you & I will never praise God more intimately publically than where we’ve been with our praise privately.
aa The reason we don’t experience, engage in a meaningful worship experience at 10:30 AM on Sunday is because we’ve not experienced or engaged in meaningful praise in private through the week.
bb Exceptions? Yes. Revival, awakening-meant to take us to a new level.
b When Dwain Miller left, I asked him, "What now?"
aa Teach your people about personally praising God. Pointed me to Jack Taylor’s book, The Hallelujah Factor.
bb Changed me, approach praise, see the world
c I want to teach you these tools this summer!
B For a few weeks, I want to turn our 10:30 AM service upside-down.
1 We’ll hear the word, learn the tool, & then join in corporate worship.
a Always wanted to try it, never had the opportunity, or a good reason.
b Let’s pray before we learn the foundational lesson we’ll build the Hallelujah Factor upon.
I What is praise?
A For the hundreds of books on this topic, there are just as many definitions.
1 "Praise is the vocal, audible, and/or visible adoration of God."
a This will be our working definition
b Remember...this is aimed at your private praise of God.
2 Praise may be vocal
a My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD...Psalms 145:21a(NASB)
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. Psalms 63:3 (NASB)
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth... Psalms 66:1 (NASB) Shouting
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders...Psalms 26:7 (NASB)
b These are all vocal aspects of adoration
3 Praise may be audible without being vocal.
a Clapping is audible O clap your hands, all peoples... Psalms 47:1 (NASB)
b Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with harp and lyre. 4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals. Psalms 150:3-5 (NASB)
4 Praise may neither be vocal or audible
a So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalms 63:4 (NASB) More on this in weeks to come
b Kneeling (harah) worship used over 60x’s in the Old Testament. Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. 2 Chron 20:18 (NASB)
c Let them praise His name with dancing... Psalms 149:3a (NASB)
d In 1 Chron. 15, David finally brings the ark of the covenant back to its rightful place & all of Jerusalem praises God.
aa Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres. 1 Chron 15:28 (NASB)
bb David danced in celebration & Saul’s daughter "despised him in her heart." It happened when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart. 1 Chron 15:29 (NASB)
cc The reason Michal despised David was because she wasn’t a dancer (if she had known God like David did, she’d be a dancer, too!)
B We’ll never (seldom) praise God publically more than we praise Him privately.
1 The reason why many don’t shout, "Hallelujah! Amen! Praise the Lord!" here is because we don’t before we get here.
a Clap-we don’t do it publically, not done privately
b Lift our hands, kneel, dance-we don’t do it (never been taught it)
2 For the 31 years I’ve been a Southern Baptist, I never sat under a pastor who taught me the significance, blessing, power, that is found in privately praising God.
a I’ve never been taught to do it!
b Praise is at 10:30 AM/6:30 PM on Sunday
aa (IL) My dental hygienist’s 5-yr.-old daughter asked her, "What are we going to do in Heaven?" "Praise God."-sound boring
bb We’ve not really learned what it is, means to praise God.
cc I didn’t understand-not because I was sinful, but rather because I was stupid (didn’t understand).
We’ve established that praise is a vocal, audible, and/or visible adoration of God, & was practiced by people in the Old Testament, but what about people in the New Testament? (Transitional sentence)
II New Testament worship
A John was living out his final days on the lonely isle of Patmos. I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Rev 1:9 (NASB)
1 He’d been banished (friends had died, church persecuted everywhere, Emperor of Rome hated Christianity & wanted to wipe all Christians from the face of the earth).
a He had a vision of the glorified Christ (very different)
aa Miracles, foot washing, transfiguration, Last Supper, Garden, cross, ascension...John knew Jesus!
bb Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. Rev 1:12-16 (NASB)
cc Eyes of fire, mouth as sharp as a sword, face shined like the sun-no gentle, meek, mild Jesus.
b After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things." 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. Rev 4:1-2 (NASB) Open door & an occupied throne!
2 Open door: implication is simple-there is an open door between John & heaven.
a He was on Patmos (v. 9) & he was in the Spirit (v.10)
aa The visable (seen) world & the invisible (unseen) world-both are real.
bb When he was in the Spirit, he saw the reality of invisible truth & repeated it to us!
b We can see them, too!
aa Visible is easy: bills to pay, bosses to keep happy, fields to disc, sickness/deaths to endure.
bb Invisible, spiritual realm is reality, too!
cc In the end, the spiritual realm will last longer than what we see anyway.
c Jesus told John to "come up here", & he’s telling us the same today.
d Not only two realities, but the "unseen controls the seen."
aa We’ve thought it’s the other way around, but it’s not.
bb V.1 "Come up here, & I’ll show you how things really are!"
e That door is still open to us, not just on Sunday at 10:30, but 24/7.
3 Occupied throne (v.2)
a We want to think that our world is spinning out of control, rule/authority are up for grabs...they’re not.
b The powers of this world do not hold the balance of authority of the universe...a throne was standing in heaven, & One is sitting on the throne.
aa It is a sovereign God who sits on the throne today!
bb The invisible controls/holds sway over the invisible.
B John finds himself in the middle of the throne room of God & the response is for only one thing...PRAISE! Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME." Rev 4:5-8 (NASB)
1 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." Rev 4:9-11 (NASB) The elders fall down & praise God!
2 The perspective of praise is none other than the throne room of the universe where we see God sitting on His throne! God reigns!
a When we see God as He is, we will automatically praise God as we should.
b If we’re not praising God, it reveals an inadequate view of God.
Conclusion
A (Need a large rock & a lever) God is sovereign! He’s in control!
1 God is not in heaven wondering how things will get worked out in the Middle East, White House, prayer in school, 10 Commandments, Target & Wal-Mart taking little baby Jesus out of Christmas.
a God is on the throne! (Control, power, authority, sovereignty)
b He rules all over creation
2 Archimedes: "Give me a lever long enough & a place to stand, & I will move the earth." God is sovereign (rock), praise is my lever.
a If my praise is based on my human hopes, positive thinking...useless!
b If my praise is based on the sovereignty of God, I can begin to move my world into a proper perspective of praise.
B Some of you need to repent today...
1 Believe that things are only as they appear (ask God to reshape your whole perspective around the vision of God on His throne).
2 Michal despised David in her heart because of how he was worshiping...maybe you’ve done the same.
3 You’ve been putting your lever on emotion, hopes, expectations, & not on the simple fact of God’s sovereignty.
a Talented choir, trained musicians, worship leaders...put on the sovereignty of God!
C Let’s pray
1 Repent
2 Salvation
3 Homework
a Read through Psalms (21 chapters a day) & mark the passages which speak of God’s throne, God’s reign, God’s greatness, & God’s authority.
b Thumb through a hymnal & find a hymn that speaks of God’s greatness/sovereignty & memorize a verse of several of these songs.
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
