A Pause for Praise

tremendous church. Tremendous youth group. You're blessed. Amen. You're blessed. So blessed. So good to have my mother here with me tonight. This is a rare treat. She was speaking somewhere Friday night. Made it over. Love her.

Book of 1 Timothy, chapter number one. 1 Timothy, chapter number one. And I'm going to start with verse number 12. 1 Timothy chapter number one and verse number 12. Bible says, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief." The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Anybody ever felt that way? How be it for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal and mortal invisible the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

I want to preach to you and I hope you'll help me tonight for just a little while on this subject. A pause for praise. A pause for praise. Would you lift up your hands with me one more time? Would you open up your mouth with me? Would you help me pray that the Holy Ghost would help us? Come on, everybody. Come on, young men. Help me tonight. Oh, hallelujah. God, I believe you're going to work in this house. Believe you're going to give somebody a breakthrough in this house. Come on. Why don't you lift up your voice? Would you do that for me? Hallelujah. Speak to us tonight. Help us tonight. Give us a breakthrough. Come on. I'm telling you, God wants to give somebody a breakthrough before you go home tonight. Ah, hallelujah. Would you lift your hands with faith? Come on. Mix faith with it right now. He said the word did not profit them because they did not mix it with faith. Would you go ahead and let faith get mixed into your spirit right now? Oh, let your anointing be here tonight, Jesus. Come on. Would you give the Lord one more hand clap of praise all over this house? Oh man, thank you for standing and helping me tonight.

A doxology is an expression of praise unto God and it is often spontaneous in nature. Doxologies are found all throughout scripture and it's really an interesting study if you have any interest in this tonight to look up and find different doxologies in the Bible. It's interesting because they really don't mesh a lot of times they really don't mix with the verses that are around them. It's as if the writer of whatever book that it may be becomes so overwhelmed with emotion and feeling that right in the middle of what they're doing, they stop and give God praise.

I remember a time that I was in college and had my AirPods in and I had some worship music playing and all of a sudden I just got so caught up in the moment of that song. I was standing there at a vending machine and I closed my eyes and I said, "Thank you, Jesus." I looked around and people was looking at me like I had lost my mind. But the point is it was an interruption into a seemingly normal day where I stopped what I was doing and I give God praise.

I remember a time brother Holmes I was with you and brother Jackson this has been several years ago and we were out at a conference somewhere and you may not remember this but we were driving down the road and we were leaving a restaurant and all of the sudden it was like the Holy Ghost just came into that car and we were out not even doing what we would consider spiritual things but the Holy Ghost started moving and there was weeping and there was crying and I'll never forget I believe it was you that made a statement along the lines of I believe God loves when we stop what we are doing no matter how busy it is no matter how monotonous it may seem and give God praise.

I remember another time, give a few examples here, that my father when after a couple of years that he had had dementia and it finally came to the place that we were not able to take care of him, give him the proper care at home. And so we had to make the lifealtering decision to put him in assisted living. And I remember I came into town for that day so I could be there for it. But I remember we walked in and it was nicer than a lot that I had been to. But boy, it was sure a different environment than my daddy was used to. And I remember dad had gotten to the place where maybe he had kind of lost his filter. He would say things that maybe he would not have said before. And I remember we were nervous about what's dad going to say? how's he going to react? And I remember him walking into this place and looking around and saying, "Ain't this wonderful? God is so good."

I want to tell you that God loves any form of praise. God loves any form of worship. But there is something about a saint of God that when they're in the middle of darkness and they're in the middle of a hard time and they're in the middle of a trial and it may not be the most comfortable thing to do, it may not mess with everything that's going on in their life, but they stop what they're doing and say, "I'm not too busy to give God praise." Hallelujah. I was reading my Bible maybe a month or so back and and I was reading one of my favorite books, the book of first Timothy and as I began to read this book, I tried to find the flow and the pattern through which the author Paul was writing this epistle and you can see the structure. He begins as he does with many books. He begins with an introduction, who he is, who the book is addressed to, and immediately after the formalities are out of the way, he stops what he's doing, and he starts giving instruction to a young man by the name of Timothy. He starts dropping the hammer and explaining to him about exactly how this young pastor should be operating his church. He said, ' Don't forget that when I left and I went to Macedonia that I charge you to stay in Ephesus and shut down anybody that is preaching false doctrine. He said, "Don't give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying." It was instruction. It was help to this young pastor of teaching him about what to do with false prophets, what to do with those that are preaching false doctrine.

He then goes and begins to talk about the law and the commandments. And he says the law was not made for those that are righteous, but it was made for those that are disobedient. And starts going down a list. He said it's made for the ungodly and the sinners, for murderers, for mansllayers, those that defile themselves. And as he's talking about these groups of sinners, as he's talking about these people that are causing injury to the church of God and their murderers and their troublemakers, I can see the wheels of his mind start to spin. And I can see it play out in his mind as he starts talking about those people that the law was intended for. That he starts thinking about where he was when God found him. That there was something about Paul that he never got so self-righteous and he never got so sophisticated and he never got so professional that he forgot about where God had brought him from.

I was reading this, it was as if it jumped off the page to me. He's writing instruction. He's talking about these deep theological truths and then all the sudden right in the middle of this book he stops what he's doing and the Bible says now unto the king eternal immortal invisible the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Now this does not fit the flow. This does not fit the pattern. In fact, scholars would all agree that this is what is known as a perfect doxology. Goes from writing 16 verses in a row to Timothy to one verse right in the middle of a book of I believe it's 113 verses. He stops what he's doing and he says, "I know I'm dealing with heavy stuff, but I'm never too busy to stop what I'm doing." and give God praise.

Now I can see him and if you'll just give me a couple moments here tonight, I can see Paul as he's sitting there and many scholars believe that this book was dictated, meaning that he spoke it and there was a scribe that would write what he was saying. And I can see it play out in my mind as he starts talking about those that are murderers. And all of a sudden, his mind goes back to a day that they were stoning a man by the name of Stephen. And he was the very one that was standing there and was holding the coach of them that were killing them. He starts talking about those that caused injury to the church. And as he does, his mind goes back and he thinks about taking women and children and casting them into prison. And I can see him lift up his hands. I can see the tears run down his face as he says, "I have not forgotten about where God brought me from, about what he did for me. Now unto the King, eternal and mortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

I've come to preach the FPC tonight. It's always a good time it's always appropriate to stop what you're doing and give God praise. He never looked at himself as this man that was so spiritually gifted that he could get beyond every once in a while, glancing in that rear view mirror and looking at where God had brought him from. I'm preaching to you, we don't live in the past. We don't glorify the past. And but God forbid I get in the church so long and I'm sitting on these padded pews so long and I hear so much singing and I hear so much preaching that I forget about where I was the day that he found me. I want to preach to you in this househ we've got it backwards when we think the longer we're living for God and the longer we're righteous that the less we ought to give God praise. I'm preaching to you in this house every day you're alive. You ought to give him more praise than the day before. My God, I wish you'd help me tonight. Every moment I'm in the church. Every week I don't have less reason to give him praise. I've got more reason to give God. I refuse to come to church and shut my mouth. I refuse to come to church and let somebody else do my job. I want to tell you tonight that praise is always appropriate. Let me say that again. Praise is always appropriate. And here's what's so beautiful about what I'm preaching to you tonight is that you can come into this house and it doesn't matter if you're up or you're down. It doesn't matter if you're in or you're out. It doesn't matter if you're rich or you're poor. You still owe God. I said you still owe God. It's not just something that I can do. I owe God praise. I refuse to come to church and to get so ritualistic and to go through the motions that I stop. He said you praise him according to his excellent greatness. I don't praise him according to what's going on in my world. I don't praise him according to how I'm feeling. Cuz one day I'm uph. I give him praise according to what he's done for me. I give him praise according to his excellent greatness. Why don't you lift your hands in this house right now? Come on. Why don't you lift your hands in this house right now? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on, help me right now. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.

I used to believe this and I think it needs a little tweak. Here's what I've heard people say. Your praise is a testimony of how good God has been to you. Well, let me add a tweak that I think is necessary. Your praise is a testimony of how good you think God has been to you. I'm telling you, I've seen a lot of people I know their story. I know where they come from. I know what they've been through, but they come to church and they don't lift up their head. I'm telling you, I want you to know God has been good to me by the way I worship. I want you to know from what I do in church, that boy believes God's been good to him. That boy believes God's been merciful. I wish you testify. Come on. Some of your testimonies, they were ugly. They were bad. But God kept his hand on you. You ought to let FPC know tonight. Come on. God's been good to me and my praise is going to show it. God's been merciful to me and my praise is going to show it. My God, don't you be dignified. You ought to give him praise in this house right now. I said you ought to give him praise. He's been good to me and I want you to know it. He's been merciful to me and I want the world to know. I want to testify. I want my running to testify. I want my leaping to testify. I want my praise. Come on, you ought to lift up your voice. I said you ought to lift up your voice. It's appropriate to give him praise right now. I said it's appropriate. This is in order tonight. I said this is in order. I owe him praise. I will not keep my mouth shut. Come on. I want you to lift up your hands in this house. Come on. Come on. I want you to lift up your hands in this house. Come on. It's appropriate what we're doing tonight. I said it's appropriate what we're doing tonight. Hallelujah.

We see several times in scripture where people would stop everything that was going on in their world and give God praise. 2 Chronicles 20, the messengers came to Jehoshaphat and they said, "There's an army that is heading this way and they're getting ready to fight. They're getting ready to destroy us." And Jehoshaphat sits back and thinks, "Boy, this would be a good time to have a praise break." Huh? He hears the enemy is getting ready to come and he doesn't fret. He doesn't whine. He doesn't complain. He doesn't break down. But he goes to the house of the Lord and he starts praying and he starts fasting. And God said, "Listen to me. You're not even going to have to fight this battle cuz you're going to win this the way we've always won it. You're going to win it through those that know how to praise and those that know how to worship." He comes to his military and boy, it was such an odd game plan. Comes and said, "Boy, I don't need chariots. I don't need horses. I don't even need men that are strong and men that know how to use a sword and a shield. I'll tell you what I need. I need some men that don't have pride. I need some women that don't have pride. I need some people that know how to lift. I need somebody of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of praise, that will go before." And here's what he said. As you go before them, you start praising. You start singing. And when you praise, I'm telling you, God will fight your battle. I want to preach to somebody. You got to quit trying to fight it. You got to quit trying to figure it out. Some of you ain't praising cuz your world's messed up tonight. I'm preaching to you. You come to church and you praise when your world is upside down. You praise when you get a bad doctor's report. You praise when the liar says no. You praise when your world's upside down. And I'm telling somebody, God's going to fight you. I wish you'd hear me tonight. I said he's going to fight it. You hear me, young man. You let God do it. You let you start praising. You worship even when you don't feel like it. And God is going to fight your battle. You ought to pause for 20 seconds right now and give them praise. I said you ought to pause for about 20 seconds right now and open up your mouth.

Hallelujah. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Praise was never designed to fit your schedule. Praise was never designed to fit what you feel like doing. Praise was never designed to be something your flesh enjoyed doing. I'm telling you, praise, it's about stepping beyond the realm of the flesh and breaking through in the spirit. It's not supposed to be convenient. It's not supposed to be comfortable. Come on. You ought to hit the pause button right now and wave your handshu. You ought to hit the pause button and open up your mouth. Come on. I want you to open up your mouth right now. I wish you'd give them the fruit of your lips in this house. Come on, young men. Come on, young men. Help me right now. Hallelujah.

Israel had been without the ark for a long time. They had been without the presence of God. For there was nobody that knew how to praise like David. Nobody that knew how to worship like David. He made up his mind. If I don't do nothing else, I'm getting the glory of the Lord back. I'm getting the ark of the covenant back. I'm telling you, in his flesh, I can promise you, David wanted them priests to pick that thing up and run as fast as they could. He was excited. He was ready to get it home. But he realized praise got me this far and it's going to get me all the way. It may be inconvenient, but one 2 3 4 5 6. Set it down. We're going to give him praise. Set it down. I'm going to hit the pause button. Come on. If he could do that for 8 miles, you ought to be able to stop in the middle of your trial, in the middle of your pain, in the middle of your heartache, and lift up your My God, you ought to try it. I said you ought to try it. I said you ought to lift up your voice. You ought to lift up your voice. It feels good. And I said, it feels good. Come on. You ought to try it right in the face of your trouble. Right in the face of your discip lift up your voice. Come on, lift up your hands. Come on, lift up your hands. Oh yes. Oh yes.

Job lost everything, but he said, "Naked I came and naked I will return, but blessed be the name of the Lord. I've lost everything, but blessed be his name. I'm about to lose my mind, but blessed be his name. I lost my job, but blessed be his name. I'm going through a heartache, but bless his name. Like, you ought to do it. Why don't you lift up your voice? Come on, I want you to close your eyes right now. Lift up your hands. Come on. I want you to close your eyes right now. You got to get to the place where you make up your mind. I will not let difficulty make me lose my praise. Can I tell you? Can I tell you an immature Christian's praise and worship is up and down and up and down, but somebody that's seen God work and seen him move, they say everything. You may be facing the worst trial of your life, but what would happen if you just praise your way right on through it.

They took Jesus and he knows that within literal hours they're going to crucify him. They're going to beat him. They're going to spit on him. They're going to slap him. He's going to be nailed to a cross. But before it all, he says, "Hey boys, let's stop and give God praise." Hallelujah. The Lambs of Bible translates Matthew 26 and30 like this. And they offered praise and went unto the Mount of Olives. You may wonder, well, what praise? What psalm was it that they sung? Well, in Jewish tradition, right before or right after the Passover meal, they would sing psalms that were known as the hal psalms. Here is Jesus. He knows he is omnisient. He knows everything that is getting ready to happen to him. He knows they're getting ready to kill him. They're getting ready to crucify him. And he's walking to the Mount of Olives where he's going to sweat and where he's going to cry. And he starts singing Psalms 84, praise ye the Lord. Praise oh ye servants of the Lord. I love the Lord because he heard my voice and my supplication. He's walking to death and he said the sorrows of death they compass me. And the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord and he delivered me from falling. I will walk. He's prophesied. I'm going to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Praise the Lord. Praise him all ye people. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What man can do unto me. They can pass me about. But in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. The Lord is my strength and my son. I shall live and not die.

I never seen this scripture the way that I did when I got this revelation of what he was singing. But here he is and he's on the way to the cross and he starts singing a verse we love. He said this is the day that the Lord has made. I'm getting ready to be killed. I'm getting ready to be mocked, but I will rejoice. You better not lose your joy, say to God. He could rejoice on the way to the cross. He could praise on the way to the cross. Why don't you lift up your voice? I know life's been hard, but it ain't been hard enough for you to stop praising. I know life ain't been fair, but it ain't been so fair you can't praise them. Come on, I want you to lift up your hands all over this house right now. Come on. I want you to lift up your hands. I'm telling you, you better not lose your praise. You better not lose your You can do it. I said you can do it. I wish some of you get a breakthrough in this house. I'm not praising him cuz everything's perfect. I'm praising him cuz I've got the revelation. I know who he is. I know what is up. He is the alpha. He's the omega. He's the beginning. He's the end. You ought to shout if you know he's the first and the last. He is my everything. I'm going to give him praise. I want you to lift up your hands. I want you to lift up your hands in this house right now. Come on. I want everybody to help me. I want everybody to help me. Come on. I'm telling you. Can you hit the pause button? Can you hit the pause button? Can you hit the Come on. As you lift up your hands, I wish you'd forget about everything going on. I wish you'd forget about your trouble. I wish you'd forget about your pain. I wish you hit the pause button on life. I said hit the pause button on life. Come on, wave your hand. Wave your hand. Wave your hand. Give them a wave offering in this house. Come on. Come on. They're getting ready to sing. I want you to praise him in this house. I can hit the pause button. I can stop what I'm doing. If he could praise him on his way to the cross. I can praise him on my way to trouble. If he could praise him on the way to die, I can praise him on a Sunday night. Come on, young men. Join up with somebody. Come on, young men. Join up with somebody in this house. Come on. I want you to pray. I want you to pray. I want you to get loose in the Holy Ghost tonight. Come on, moms and daddies. Why don't you help me tonight? We are a young man that needs a break through. Come on. A young lady. You want to move your feet. You want to dance through your trouble. You want to dance through your pain. You want to dance through your questions. You want to shout through your confusion. Come on. Come on, young man. Come on, young men. Close your eyes. Come on. If you're in the youth group, you want to have your hands in the air right now. Come on. If you're in the youth group, you want to have your hands in the air. Come on. I want you to shake somebody tonight. I don't care what we got to do. I want this thing to break. I want it to break. Come on. Come on. If you want to shake somebody tonight, shake them in the Holy Ghost. Shake them till they start praying on you. I will turn into grad disappointment and break every now and turn I love you. The victory I will break everything every break everything break everything every break Everything everything Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat up here. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Come on. Right now. Right now. Right now. Come on. I want you to push with me. I want you to push with me. Come on. I need some of you men to lift up your voices. I need some of you men to lift up your voices. Come on. There's a breakthrough I'm looking for. There's a breakthrough I'm looking for. I need you to get involved in this tonight. You I need you to get involved. I need you to get involved all over this house. All over this. I need your voice. I need your voice. I need your hands. I need your hands. I need your feet. Oh God, give us a break through. I need all of you involved. All of you in the get involved in this. Get involved in this. Don't let your circumstances take away your praise. Don't let your trouble take away your voice. Come on. Come on. This is NPC. I need you to act like it tonight. I said I need you to act like it tonight. This is a Holy Ghost church. Come on. This is a dancing church. This is a sound church. I wish you do it tonight. I wish you do it tonight. I wish you do it. I wish you do it. Yes. Oh, lift it up. Lift it up. Lift it up. Come on, young man. Some broke through yet. Wait till you break through. Heat. Heat. Heat.