PRAISE AS A WEAPON
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. JOKE #1
a. Samantha Couchoud’s father was on a business trip and approaching a security checkpoint at the airport. The National Guard shift was rotating, and a guard, in full uniform, was in line in front of him.
b. As with everybody else, the soldier was ordered to go through the metal detector. Before doing so, he handed his M-16 rifle to security personnel along with other items such as handcuffs and a flashlight.
c. Still the alarm sounded when he walked through. Further inspection revealed a Swiss army knife inside one of his pockets.
d. "Sorry, sir," security said to the soldier, "but this item is prohibited." Taking the knife away, the airport worker then handed him back the M-16.
2. JOKE #2
a. As a dental hygienist, Wanda Crumpler tries to relieve her patients' anxiety by going over the procedures before starting. After talking to one patient, a police officer, she asked him if he had any questions.
b. She must have been a little too graphic in her description, because he replied, "I have just one. I've never given you a ticket, have I?"
B. THE PERMANENCE OF PRAISE
1. There’s coming a day when all the preaching will stop, all the sermons will be finished, all the prayer meetings will no longer be needed, evangelism will be useless.
2. It’s the day we enter into eternity, the day when we go to heaven. On that day there is one thing that WON’T cease – in fact, that one thing will be done even more – and that one thing is praise and worship. That will never stop.
3. Praise & worship are going on right now in Heaven. Day & night, night & day – worship arises because He is worthy of it all.
4. As Tozer said, “Go to church once a week and nobody pays attention. But worship and serve God 7 days a week and you become strange! Tim Dilena said, “I’m signing up for the strange club. Augustine said, “A Christian should be a Hallelujah from head to toe!” Be a Hallelujah!
5. In Ps. 150 & 34 and John 4, the revelation of who God is and what God has done is the fuel for the fire of our worship.
C. THESIS & TITLE
1. So tonight we’re going to look at how praise is a weapon. The devil wants you to think it’s only for Sunday, but we’re going to see that we should be praising God every day of the week!
2. The title of today’s message is “Praise As A Weapon.”
I. PRAISE CHANGES YOUR FOCUS & PERSPECTIVE
A. A CHANGE OF FOCUS
1. The first reason to use worship as a weapon is that it shifts your focus and mindset.
2. When we fix our eyes on our problems and struggles, our faith and sight are covered with clouds. But when we turn our attention to God, His omnipotence & omnipresence drive back those clouds and our problems look smaller.
3. My mind focuses on what I can’t do. But worship reminds me of what the Holy Spirit can do.
B. CHANGING YOUR PERSPECTIVE
1. Worship is also a weapon because true worship trades your earthly perspective for a heavenly one.
2. ILLUS.
a. A Pastor took over a dead church. No matter how hard he tried to get the congregation to pep-up their praise & worship, they were just not going to do it. But he got an idea.
b. So the next Sunday when the church came into the sanctuary, the Pastor had moved a huge boulder onto the stage. He had painted on it and it said, “If you won’t, I will!” in big letters.
c. Luke 19:40 says, “If they keep quiet, the stones will start shouting.” Prayerlessness is a characteristic of the unsaved. Worship is an act of war against the flesh, the devil, the world, even religion.
3. No matter what happens during your life – you can be confident that THE END OF YOUR STORY will be one of happiness, joy, peace in heavenly realms with Christ! It will glorious and will be worth it all.
4. As Paul said in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” We’ll say, “Oh, death, where is your sting?
5. Worship helps you to zoom out from your circumstances and zoom in on God and eternity.
II. PRAISE CHANGES YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
A. EXPECT GOD TO HANDLE YOUR PROBLEMS
1. When Jehoshaphat & Judah were being invaded in 2 Chron. 20, Jehoshaphat called the people to fasting and prayer. As they prayed God spoke through a prophet. He told them 4 things it would be good for us to hear.
2. Verse 15B, "The Battle is not yours, but God's." Verse 17 -- "You will not have to fight this battle.""Stand firm & see the deliverance the Lord will give you." And "Go out and face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you."
3. We must have the courage to face our troubles, but also to know that we’re not going alone -- the Lord is with us!
B. PRAISE UNLEASHES THE WORD
1. When Jehoshaphat’s troops began boldly and loudly praising God – BEFORE THE BATTLE – it provoked a battle in the heavenly realms. Worship acted as a weapon by transforming his circumstances.
2. When we speak the Word in faith, claiming it’s promises, the power of the Word is unleashed. God Himself promises, “My Word...will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent” Isa. 55:11.
3. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, AND IT WILL BE YOURS” Mk. 11:24.
4. As Jehoshaphat’s singers “began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated” 2 Chron. 20:22.
5. The presence of God went ahead of the praises of his people to fight and win the battle before King Jehoshaphat could even arrive. That’s the power of worship at work!
III. PRAISE CHANGES YOUR ENEMIES’ POSITION
A. SUBMIT TO GOD – SATAN WILL FLEE
1. The third reason to use worship as a weapon is that it drives Satan away. Psalm 22:3 tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. When you worship God, you invite the presence of God into the room and into your circumstances. And when God is present, Satan (and all of his spiritual attacks) has no choice but to flee.
2. In God’s throneroom in Heaven there is continuous praise and worship. So when you worship God, you’re extending His heavenly kingdom to your place on Earth. Satan obviously doesn’t want any part of that either.
3. Tim Dilena told the story of the kidnap of a 9 year old in Atlanta. The kid started singing “Every Praise” in the car for 3 hours. The kidnappers stopped the car and kicked him out. Praise became a weapon!
4. While it’s easy to believe that our troubles lie with other people and earthly circumstances, Ephesians 6:12 tells us otherwise: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Those “spiritual forces cannot win spiritual battles in which God’s name is lifted high and defiantly in worship.
B. KNOWING THE SOURCE OF OUR POWER
1. ILLUS.
a. A criminal – Willy Sutton – was a regular bank robber in the US. The FBI asked him, “Why do you rob banks?” He replied, “That’s where the money is!”
b. Worship is where the treasure is. When we worship, we enter into where God lives (Ps. 22:3). When we lift OUR voice in worship, the devil loses HIS voice. “The purpose of praise is that God would be glorified, the saints fortified, and the devil horrified.”
2. Many Christians know worship is a spiritual weapon, but they don’t know how to use it. The Hebrew word “clap” in Psalm 47:1 means far more than just striking your hands together. It’s a weapon of warfare.
3. This same Hebrew word, taqa (Strong’s #8628) also means to “thrust or drive a weapon, to give a blast or a blow.” One Old Testament usage was when Jael the wife of Heber drove a tent peg through Sisera’s temple (Judges 4:21). Our singing, praising, and clapping weaponizes our worship against the enemy.
IV. PRAISE CHANGES THOSE AROUND YOU
A. SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLE
Acts 16:25-29, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up... and was about to kill himself.... But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer...rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas...and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
B. OTHER PEOPLE TRANSFORMED
1. As a result of Paul & Silas’ worship service, the jailor and his entire family were saved and baptized.
2. Not only that, but all the other prisoners were exposed to the singing, earthquake, doors opening, and the conversation between Paul & the jailor – so the other prisoners must have gotten a great witness of Christ too!
3. When other people see you worship in spite of your circumstances, it will persuade them that your God is so real they ought to consider becoming His worshippers too!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: The Washington Monument
1. Every day when the sun rises over Washington DC, its first rays fall on the eastern side of the city’s tallest structure, the 555-foot Washington Monument.
2. The first part of that monument to reflect the rising sun is the eastern side of its aluminum capstone, where these words are inscribed: Laus Deo, Latin for “Praise be to God.”
3. This compact prayer of praise, visible to the eyes of heaven alone, is tacit recognition of our nation’s unique acknowledgment of the place of God in its founding and its continuance. [ministry127]
B. THE CALL
1. Like the Washington Monument, Praise should be the first thing we do in the morning!
2. In this new year, why don’t you plan to begin harnessing the dynamic power of Praise As A Weapon.”
3. PRAYER
[This is a rewrite of Deb Preston’s “Worship as a Weapon” and also thoughts by Dr. Hackett and Tim Dilena]
