Hebrews 13:15
Nov 18, 2012 AM
Pastor Craig
Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Psalm
50:23)
A.
There were specific
instructions on HOW to worship God in the Old Testament
1.
The entire Book of Leviticus
described all the many steps necessary to approach and worship Almighty God –
very explicit instructions, and very serious!
2.
You couldn’t just walk into
the tabernacle.
3.
You couldn’t just bring any
kind of an animal, and it couldn’t be flawed in any way.
4.
You couldn’t just burn your
own brand of incense.
5.
It had to be done one way –
God’s way!
6.
It was very important to
praise and worship the Lord rightly, or else it would become a
mockery of God – and believe me, the devil LOVES that!
B.
We in the New Testament era,
are a Royal Priesthood (1Peter 2:5,9)
1.
No longer offering labs, or
bulls, or goats
2.
No longer offering corn or
wheat, or fruits
3.
We offer only two basic
sacrifices today
a.
The living sacrifice of our
own lives to do the will of God (Romans 12:1)
b.
And the sacrifice of praise
(Heb 13:15)
4.
The same is still true in the
New Testament. People think they can just go to any kind of church, and worship
any ol’ way they want and God will be pleased! There is just so much MOCKERY of
God going INSIDE churches today – not just outside them!
C.
We need to pay careful
attention to God’s description of how to praise Him for that very same reason –
because Satan has done a very good job at convincing people that they are doing
a good job of honouring God, when they in fact are actually only honouring
themselves, and ultimately, honouring and praising devils
1.
Carnal fleshly show
2.
Unknown tongues actually
praising Satan
3.
Massive amounts of money and
praises wasted on performers and
4.
The devil is really pleased
with all that
5.
But God is NOT!
6.
Matt 15:8 “This people
draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but
their heart is far from me.”
D.
So, How SHOULD we offer the
Sacrifice of Praise?
II.
Background Truths
A.
To praise God is to say
something good about Him. Something that applauds Him, and makes Him look good
in the eyes of others.
B.
It is when we show approval of
God and and are thankful for what He has done.
C.
We are praising God when we
honour Him, bless Him, and do things that make Him feel good!
D.
The sacrifice of praise is
when we honour and glorify God at a high price to ourselves!
1.
I wish it was easy! And what a
sacrifice praise can be! A hard gift to give to God!
2.
But praising God means
sometimes not praising Himbecause of anything other than just that HE is God!
That is your gift to Him!
III.
Review – Last Week -
How Should We Offer Our Praise?
A.
By Singing
(Psalm 28:7)
B.
By Remembering
(Psalm 63:5-7)!
1.
Remember that God means
everything for good!
2.
Remember that He only doeth
wonderous things!
3.
Remember what He alone has
done for you!
4.
Remember that He alone
deserves all praise!
5.
Remember that this world is
not our home!
6.
Remember to add praise to
everything you say and do – that’s what God says to do!
C.
As Forgiven
(Psalm 66:18)
D.
Praise God Verbally
- With words - The Sacrifice of Praise is Something We SAY
IV.
Message – So, How
Should We Order Our Praise?
A.
Praise God Particularly
(Isaiah 63:7; Psalm 107:8)
1.
Be specific about how good God
is
a.
Be on the lookout for what God
is doing in your life
b.
Think about how miraculous His
acts are – not natural, or to be expected!
2.
Just TRY and list out ALL the
benefits, all the blessings, all the gifts from above
a.
List them by name!
b.
“Count your many blessings!”
3.
We are SOOOO good at listing
all the faults, all the problems! SHAME ON US!
4.
Praise God for everybody! Find
some awesome things in people to praise God for…
a.
Your parents – for not killing
you when you were growing up! For loving you and helping you
b.
Your younger brother or sister
who worked so hard to get you into trouble so that you stayed OUT of trouble!
c.
That person who hurt you –
taught you to stay on our knees and to love people like Christ loved you!
5.
And praise God for EVERYTHING!
That’s when it becomes a sweet-smelling sacrifice!
B.
Praise God Fearfully
1.
With GREAT respect
2.
Modern man does not fear God
at all!
a.
Has no worry about God
exposing them for the faker and fraud they are
b.
No worries about reaping for
all their sin
c.
No worries about standing
before the Creator of this universe and having NOTHING to say! And no hope!
d.
Have no fear of what sin will
cost them later in life!
3.
If you do not fear the Lord,
you will not praise Him – a Biblical truth!
a.
Psa 22:23 Ye that fear the
LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye
the seed of
b.
Psa 96:4 For the LORD is
great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
c.
Psa 111:10 The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his
commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
d.
Psa 112:1 Praise ye the LORD.
Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his
commandments.
e.
Rev 19:5 And a voice came out
of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great.
4.
Bible believers take God very
seriously – we know He is God!
5.
If you find it hard to get
excited … about the Bible, and preaching, and soul-winning, and praying, and
reading your Bible, and living godly, and singing praises to God…
a.
It will usually be because you
fear all the wrong things
1)
Like your friends – their
mockery of you
2)
Your family
3)
Losing your job
4)
You fear being bored or
unhappy
5)
You fear the devil, or
darkness, or demons, or troubles in your life
b.
BUT, if you feared ONLY God,
you would find yourself praising Him for His goodness, and for His mercy towards
you when He should NOT be offering it to you!
6.
Those of us who praise and
worship God in spirit and truth do it seriously! We are not playing a game! We
realize that God is God and expects us to not make a show!
C.
Praise The Lord, Publicly
(Acts 3:6-11)
1.
Everyone talks DOWN, and
angrily, and griping these days ! It is so hard NOT to!
2.
"Can we expect the flames of
worship to burn brightly in public on the Lord's Day when they barely flicker
for Him in secret on other days?" ~Timothy Tenbrick
3.
Praise God publickly, and
without Embarrassment!
a.
Pray privately. Give
privately. But PRAISE publically!
b.
It is not worth much if we
praise God only in private and where no one can hear it.
4.
Oh that Christians praised God
once again PUBLICALLY – at work, at school, at home, and at church! While
standing in line for coffee, for shopping!
a.
Not just privately, in times
of prayer
b.
But, “among the people” (Psalm
57:9)
c.
Even among unbelievers – the
heathen (Psalm 18:49) – they NEED to hear praise!
d.
People think Christians are
WIMPS! That we are just sad, depressed, defeated
people!
e.
I’m not! I may not have two
pennies to rub together, I may not have much to show for my life, but the God I
serve is THE God of gods, and Lord of Lords, and he is GOOD, and He loves me,
and He is right, and He is coming back again!
5.
By-the-way, it is okay to lift
up your hand in worship (Psalm 134:1-2)
a.
Not all the time – not to
attract attention to yourself
1)
It is NOT a form of worship
2)
It is a sign of surrender
3)
AND a sign that you are on
God’s side, as if to say a visible AMEN!
b.
But at appropriate times –
like when you say Amen!
D.
Praise Passionately –
energetically – really (Psalm 47:1)!
1.
Rejoice like the Lord Jesus
really IS the winner, the power, the glory, the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY Himself!
a.
Did you know that "God hears
the heart without words, but never hears our words without the heart." ~John
Goetsch
b.
Psa 47:1 “O clap your hands,
all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”
2.
What does Passionately mean?
a.
Praise God with your whole
heart (Ps 9:1)
b.
Praise God in your spirit
(Philp 3:3) For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh
c.
Praise God even with your body
(1Cor 6:20) - By your work ethic – hard work!
d.
Shout! Say Amen with feeling!
Smile! Get excited about some REAL truth – not the politically correct rubbish
that we hear all day every day!
3.
Oh that this church praised
God! Some of you do, but all of us should!
a.
If your child was dying on a
hospital bed, and after praying all night for him or her, and everyone in church
fasting and praying, and in the morning, your child sitting up and asking what
happened… what would YOU do? How would YOU feel????
b.
You would NOT just say, “Big
deal” you would be running up and down the corridors and shouting, Praise God!
He is STILL a prayer answering God!
c.
Well, He IS!
E.
Resist Complaining like
you would the Devil!
1.
How many times where the
disciples of the living Saviour found depressed? Stressed out yes, but
depressed? Other than Thomas, almost never!
2.
Do you realize just how many
times Jesus told His disciples that they ought to be rejoicing and praising God?
No matter what was going on?
a.
When hearing preaching
John 5:35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a
season to rejoice in his light.
1Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Php_1:15-18 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also
of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to
add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the
defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in
pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and
will rejoice.
b.
They were rejoicing in church
(Acts 2:46,47) – even though cold, and hungry, struggling to make ends meet!
They LOVED being at church
c.
He told them to be of good
cheer in storms
d.
When being persecuted (Mt
5:11,12; Lk 6:23)
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say
all manner of evil against you
They really WERE excited about suffering for Christ’s sake (Acts 5:41)
e.
Paul even told a bunch of
unsaved heathen on a sinking ship to be of good cheer too!
3.
Resist complaining! The
disciples learned to resist it like the plague!
4.
Listen to God’s word…
a.
2Co_6:10 As sorrowful, yet
alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet
possessing all things.
b.
Act 16:24,25 Who, having
received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet
fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto
God: and the prisoners heard them.
c.
Joh_21:19 This spake he,
signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken
this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
d.
Rev_12:11 And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they
loved not their lives unto the death.
F.
Finally, Praise God,
Continuously (Ps 104:33)
1.
All the sacrifices of the Old
Testament were continuous – were offered all the time – even twice a day
2.
All those sacrifices have been
finished, on the cross, they were nailed there
3.
Except for two sacrifices
a.
Our “living sacrifice” of our
own lives to do the will of God
b.
And the sacrifice of our
praise
c.
They are continuous sacrifices
– not sufficient to offer either “on occasion” like just at church, or when you
feel like it!
4.
The Bible says…
a.
1Thes 5:16 “Rejoice evermore.”
Praise God now and for evermore!
b.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord
alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
c.
Psalm 34:1 I will bless the
LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
d.
Psalm 145:1 David's Psalm of
praise. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever
and ever.
e.
Psalm 145:2 Every day will I
bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
f.
Act 16:25 And at midnight Paul
and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
V.
Conclusion
A.
We in the New Testament era,
are a Royal Priesthood (1Peter 2:5,9)
1.
We offer only two basic
sacrifices today
a.
The living sacrifice of our
own lives to do the will of God (Romans 12:1)
b.
And the sacrifice of praise
(Heb 13:15)
2.
We need to pay careful
attention to God’s description of how to praise Him for that very same reason –
because Satan has done a very good job at convincing people that they are doing
a good job of honouring God, when they in fact are actually only honouring
themselves, and ultimately, honouring and praising devils
B.
To praise God is …
1.
To say something good about
Him. Something that applauds Him, and makes Him look good in the eyes of others.
2.
It is when we show approval of
God and are thankful for what He has done.
3.
We are praising God when we
honour Him, bless Him, and do things that make Him feel good!
C.
The sacrifice of praise is
when we honour and glorify God at a high price to ourselves!
1.
I wish it was easy! And what a
sacrifice praise can be! A hard gift to give to God!
2.
But praising God means
sometimes not praising Him because of anything other than just that HE is God!
That is your gift to Him!
D.
But it is the HEALTHIEST thing
we can do!
E.
So, How Should We Order Our
Praise?
1.
Praise God Particularly
2.
Praise God Fearfully -
If you do not fear the Lord, you will not praise
Him
3.
Praise The Lord, Publicly
4.
Praise Passionately –
energetically – really! Rejoice like the Lord
Jesus really IS the winner, the power, the glory, the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY Himself!
5.
Resist Complaining like you
would the Devil!
6.
Finally, Praise God,
Continuously
B.
Why Can’t You Praise God?
1.
For some of you, SIN is
clogging you up, weighing you down
2.
For others, probably because
it isn’t in you
3.
Only Jesus can put a song in
your heart, and praise unto God
4.
This is your opportunity to
get born again this very day!
5.
This is your opportunity to
get right with God