The Law, Sin and Redemption… God is good! His mercies endure forever!
Ps 106:1, “Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
For those of you looking for something precious to give to the most passionate love of your heart: Jesus Christ, the Savior and redeemer of your soul, His message is a message of praise.
Today, the number one request on His wish list is your praise.
Praise is more than an expression of lip service: it is a daily life style. It is more than a jubilant worship song. It is an attitude. It is more than a bubbly personality. It is the way we live our life in appreciation for The Lord. It is obedience to His Will, conformance to His ways, and compliance with His purpose and mission for this world. Praise is the Gospel evangelized and the expression of the heart on fire for Jesus, and the icing on the cake: the very surface of our praise (not the substance of it, but the emotional expression of it) is the praise of our lips.
Today, God wants all these things from you.
Say it with me today: Hallelujah!!!
Hallelujah means Praise Ye The Lord.
? How many of you are happy in the Lord today? How many are rejoicing in what you have instead of sulking about what you don’t have?
How many have found the key and learned the secret of praise: to be content in the situation which you have found yourself in and to offer God His due praise regardless of the darkness of the bleak situation you think you’re in?
? How many set aside time every day to offer God a sacrifice of praise?
How many place thanks and praise as FIRST PRIORITY on your prayer list?
If you’re longing for peace today, and you’re desperate to connect with God on an extremely intimate level, if you’re looking to Him and not the world to fulfill the deepest desires of your heart today, then JOIN THE SYMPHONY and ENTER HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE!
Ps 100:3-5, “Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
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Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained why he chose to be a judge by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers."
So where is the joy? Where is the "always" rejoicing in the Lord? Where is the "always" giving praise with joy in our hearts for the great things He has done?
We should be a people of whom it is said, “These are people of praise!”
Joyful things should be the produce of our tongues and the fruit of our lips!
A country man without a car had an emergency and needed a ride into town urgently needed a ride into town. He went to his neighbor who happened to be a pastor and asked to borrow his horse.
The pastor lent him the horse and gave him his ten second instruction session on how to ride this particular horse. The preacher said, “Since we need to begin our prayers with thanksgiving and praise, I have taught the horse to go when he hears the words ‘Praise The Lord!’”
He also said, “Since we typically end our prayers with ‘Amen,’ I taught the horse to stop when he hears the word ‘amen.’”
The pastor asked the man if he understood, and the man answered, “sure.” So he got on the horse and said, “Praise The Lord!” Off he went in a bolt of thunder! Riding into town as fast as he could, he said it again and again… “PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD!!! And the horse moved faster.
About that time they reached the crest of a hill and the man realized he was headed straight for a cliff! He yelled Whoa! But the horse didn’t even slow down. Frantically, he hollered, “Stop, whoa, retreat, cease, sprechen ze doich!!!” but for the life of him could not remember what to say to get the horse to stop.
Finally, he remembered the command and shouted “Amen.” With that, the horse dug in with all fours, stopping only inches from the edge of the cliff.
Gasping for air the man looked over the edge, wiping the sweat off his forehead and, realizing he was alive he said, ‘PRAISE THE LORD!!!’”
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Chances are, you’ll never find yourself in that predicament, but unless you do, you need to understand THERE’S NEVER A BAD TIME TO PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Phil 4:4-8, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.”
This powerful passage of scripture outlines for us the MANDATE FOR PRAISE and the benefits of that wonderful mandate! “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
I: The Primary Purpose of Praise.
Let me begin by saying that although the benefits of praising God are healing to the soul and soothing to the heart, the primary purpose for our praise to God is His worthiness!
There will be days in your life when praise is not comfortable, nor will it feel good, but you will do it anyways, as a sacrifice because GOD IS WORTHY!
And if for some foolish reason you decide your suffering is no occasion for praise, then the rest of creation and the very rocks will cry out in your place, because whether you appreciate His Power and Majesty and Value in your life or not, HE IS STILL WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE and the very creation from the heavens to the depths, from the angels in Heaven to the creatures at the bottom of the sea have always, will always and today continue to offer praise and glory to Jehovah God The One and Only, Creator of everything because He is worthy.
1 Chronicles 16:23-29
23 “Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place.
28 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength,
29 ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name.”
THE PURPOSE OF OUR PRAISE IS:
HIS WORTHINESS, SPLENDOR, MAGESTY, STRENGTH AND JOY…
THE PARAMOUNT PURPOSE IS HIS SALVATION!!!
II: The power of Praise.
To usher in the magnified, manifest Spirit of God.
TO TRANSFORM ATTITUDES: Develop an attitude of praise!
A woman named Fanny Crosby was the author of over 8000 songs including “Blessed Assurance.”
At 6 weeks of age Fanny Crosby developed a minor eye inflammation and was taken to a local doctor for treatment. However, the doctor who treated her used the wrong medicine on her eyes and she became totally and permanently blind because of his carelessness.
Interviewed years later, Fanny Crosby said she harbored no bitterness against the physician. In fact, she once said, "If I could meet him now, I would say thank you, over and over again for making me blind." She felt that her blindness was a gift from God to help her write the hymns that flowed from her pen.
How could Fanny Crosby, blinded by a tragic failure of a careless doctor –still be filled with such joy and power in her songs? Because she kept her heart focused on God.
She looked up toward God rather than around at her disability and weaknesses.
SHE DEVELOPED AN ATTITUDE OF PRAISE!!!
Phil 4:5-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
To deliver the anxious to peace.
(How Scott used to laugh just to change his attitude… It’s true! Praise IS infectious and when you do it, the weight and heaviness just falls away! There is power in the Praises of God!
How do you keep your happy thoughts?
“I think about…”
Phil 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Illustration: Not worried about death, but happy to be alive in Christ!
A Pentecostal minister was continually bragging to his Baptist minister friends about the greatness of his church. No matter what they said, he always found a way to claim that the Pentecostals were better. Eventually his friends got tired of this, and decided to play a prank on the Pentecostal. One day, they dropped a tablet in his coffee - and soon the Pentecostal nodded off to sleep. Then they took him down to the cemetery, and laid him in a borrowed coffin, next to a freshly dug grave. They hid behind the bushes to see what would happen. Half an hour later, the Pentecostal began to awake. Yawning and looking around him, he began to notice the coffin, the tombstones, and the open grave. Then he shouted: "Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The day of resurrection has come and the Pentecostals are the first ones out!"
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The act of praise is the power to transform your anxieties into peace.
Praise God and feel the weight of the world slip off your shoulders and the heaviness of anxiety transformed into the relief of knowing you serve an everlasting, never changing, gracious God!
Matt 11:29-30, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
III: THE SYMPHONY OF PRAISE: JOIN IN!!!
Ps 148:1-14, “Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
6 He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and maidens, old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD.”
Three choirs in the praise symphony:
I: The Heavens and everything in them.
Illustrate: Light, warmth, frequency… Are all music.
Rev 4:8-11, “…Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."”
II: The earth and everything in it: Silent, but so loud!
Illustration: The story of that man at June & Neals who wanted to buy the petrified forest rock. He was a meteorite hunter… I lost him when I told him the rock was anointed because it had been in the church for years, where God’s presence was in a special way.
He said, “There’s a lot of history in this rock…”
He may have been referring to his own ideas about how the rock came to be.
In reality, he had no idea how much history was in the rock:
The Word of God, which spoke it into being.
The command, with which He called it into existence.
The Holy Spirit who spun the heavens into motion and gave life and energy to everything.
The earth to which Satan and his followers were condemned and the Savior Jesus, who would deliver us… The history of God.
Truly, the history and the Spirit of God radiates through every ray of light and everything created.
How can we ignore it?
With jewelry now sold on virtually every home shopping network and big box store, some independent jewelers have come up with a way to stay on the cutting edge.
Jeffrey Roberts, CEO, IJO: "What they do is take the light waves and convert the light waves into sound waves." The new diamond cut is called "The Are-ges", an 85 facet round brilliant. The norm is 58. If you buy one, it comes with it’s own CD, or signature sound. It sings.
Luke 19:37-40, “When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
III: Mankind: the apple of His eye. YOU & I!
This praise is precious and of great value to your Father in Heaven!
PRAISE HIM BECAUSE HE HAS LIFTED UP A HORN!!! THE STRENGTH OF SALVATION!
THE ROOT OF JESSE, THE WAY OF LIFE AND THE BRIGHT MORNING STAR!!!
PRAISE HIM!
Join in with the symphony!!!
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE!!!
Conclude with Praise & Worship.
(((You can illustrate this with one instrument playing alone, then joined by another and another until the entire orchestra is playing a beautiful song together. This is the effect of your praises. They come together with the praises of the creation of God: the stellar beauty, the starry lights, the glistening waters, warmth of sunlight. The howling of owls and coyotes, the rumble of whales and the mysteries of the sea. Earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes… The northern lights, the magnetic poles and everything too great for us to fathom… All of it magnifies the Lord.)))
