Giving Series: Giving Praise

Praise God. Some lessons are better caught than taught. And this is one of those lessons. Every song has been about praise. And there's a a tremendous spirit of praise in this place tonight. And we're going to try to teach about praise. This series has been about giving. Jack Hayford some years ago wrote a book called it the key to everything. The key to everything. And his premise was that the key to everything kingdom related is giving. It starts with giving. God forgives. He gr grants us the gift of his grace and he forgives.

And everything I've tried to poke holes in his theory, Bishop, but just can't do it because the key to everything kingdom related is giving. G giving of self. And what we're going to talk about tonight, giving praise. Giving praise from Psalm 148:es 1-5. You can be seated for the reading of the word. Psalm 148:es 1-5 says this. And just just note the number of things that are mentioned here when it comes to giving praise. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights.

Praise him all ye angels. Praise him all ye hosts. Praise ye him son and moon. Praise him all ye stars of light. Praise him ye heaven of heavens and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created. From Psalm 107 verse 8. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. The psalmist reiterated that four times in that 107th Psalm. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

And then from Psalm 29 verses 1 and two, give unto the Lord, oh ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. give unto the Lord the glory, the glory due his name. Let me just inject this right here that whenever you talk about the glory and I I was I'm teaching on the tabernacle and talking about the glory, but every time God reveals his glory, it's about his name. It's about his name. It's a revelation of his name. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And so praise and worship, we think sometimes that they are two sides of the same coin. But really praise and worship are distinct entities. Worship is an internal construct, an internal idea. It's something that takes place and goes on in your spirit. While praise is an expression or an external expression of uh that that worship that goes on inside. And so I I want to talk about these things tonight. What is it that I am giving when I give praise?

What is it that I am yielding when I yield praise? And what is the benefit that I derive and the effect that that is expected when I am giving praise? This should be a real simple subject. I thought when I was given this assignment that this would be just a breeze because we praise all the time, right? It is while I t I mentioned on Sunday uh that that power really was the hallmark of the apostolic church. But praise is really uh a distinctive and one of our characteristics being Pentecostal.

Hallelujah. We are noted from the for this and we have been noted for this from the very beginning. It's what really gets people's attention is what they notice about us. So I want to talk about three sources from which praise flows tonight. Praise flows f first of all from the acknowledgment of God's existence that God is. Nobody's getting excited about that. But the fact that you believe that God is is the very premise of praise. Hebrews 11:6 says this, "But without faith it is impossible to please him.

For he that cometh to God must believe that he is." It is the foundation of everything uh kingdomoriented. When we come to God, it is because that we have believed that there is a God, that he is, and then we take it in a progression and that he is a rewarder. It's not enough just to believe that he is, but take it a step further because when you seek him, he will reward that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. This acknowledgment that there is a God is innate in everything that God created.

The psalm that we read, we it talked about the heavens, talked about the the sun, moon, stars, talks about the heavens and the firmaments speaking. And and the Bible is replete with scriptures that talk about creation that praises God. The mountains and the hills will break forth rejoicing. The trees of the field will clap their hands. The rivers, it talks about rivers clapping their hands. It talks about the seas roaring out the praises of the God that created them. The desert and the wilderness go forth rejoicing.

The birds and the beasts and the sea creatures they praise God their creator. Fire, hail, snow, and wind give obedient praise to the creator. Even the stones, Jesus said, if these should hold their peace, the stones, I'll rearrange the molecular structure of those stones and they will begin to praise me if you should hold your peace. Hallelujah. >> Everything that is created praises God. It's built in. It's a built-in feature of creation. And so this praise that comes from creation. Paul wrote in Romans the first chapter.

If you want to read something really scary, read Romans the first chapter because he said uh in Romans 1:20, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being," let me say that again. They are clearly seen that you can observe in nature the glory of God. They're clearly seen by the things that are made, even his eternal power and his godhead. So that they, speaking of men, are without excuse. There is no excuse for not yielding praise to God.

Yet, man is the only creature, as far as I can determine from studying this, man is the only creation that is capable of denying, doubting, and disputing God's existence. man. Man, the audacity of man. This this creature that doubts and disputes that there is a God and they deny that there is a God. The only thing that God has created that denies his existence is man. And it was this that prompted the psalmist appeal and lament in Psalm 107. Four times he said, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord.

The seas roar out his praise. The trees clap their hands in his presence. The heavens declare his glory. But oh that men would praise the Lord. Uh the ultimate irony in all of this uh is when the creature denies the creator the very least of what is due to him acknowledging his existence his presence. Even the devils believe. They can't deny the existence of God. The angels will never deny the existence of God. But man stands in the face of God and says, "I don't believe that you exist." Oh, the boldness and the brassiness of man that denies the existence of that singular God, that creator.

Acknowledging the presence, I think we need to come back to this tonight. It's the first premise of praise is just simply listen I like to get up in the morning and tell God out of over 8 billion souls on this planet I want you to know that there is one here that believes that you are there's still somebody as long and this was the only stipulation given uh by the psalmist uh to acknowledging the presence of God. Let everything that hath breath. You can sit there, but God owns your breath.

Let everything you want a reason to praise him, just take a breath. You want to read, you need something spectacular, just try missing a few of those breaths. Let everything, it is the only stipulation to praising the Lord. Let everything that hath breath, you don't have to be holy. You don't have to be righteous. You don't have to be sinless. You don't have to be mistaken free. The first reason to praise God is simply because he is. And you've got breath in your body and you can acknowledge the creator who is woo praise because you've got breath and praise because he is and when you seek him he is a rewarder.

Listen, this is what gets people's attention when they come into a Pentecostal service. They may think you look crazy. It It's a It's the way this church started on the day of Pentecost. It got their attention. And I was I was preparing this lesson and the Lord convicted me because I was going to put in my notes when was the last time that we have pray that I have praised God. And he said, "I'm talking to you." Okay? Not talking to them. I'm talking to you.

When was the last time that I praised until it was spent? Till everything was on the table? Till I laid everything out there? When is the last time? Can we remember the last time when we praised in such a fashion that there was absolutely nothing left inside? COME ON. I'M talking to myself because this is what convicted me. When was the last time that I danced until there was no more dance left? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THAT I praised until there was nothing left in me to give?

It's what giving praise is all about. OH, WE TALK ABOUT the good old days. These are them. These are the good old days. We're not here to reenact something. We are the originals. We are connected. We are still them and this is still that. Praise God. Just believe that he is. Hallelujah. The second premise from which praise flows is the assertion of his identity. The assertion of his identity. The first one was acknowledgment of existence. The second is assertion of identity. It is a progression from believing that God is to knowing who God is.

There's a lot of people that believe in a God, a higher power, a cosmic force, the man upstairs. Huh? You got all these terms to describe. They believe Pastor Brad in a God. We've gone a step beyond that because they don't know a specific God. They just know or believe that there is a God. We take it a step further when we come not only into a relationship with him, but we come to a revelation of him. The song said, "I'm glad I know who Jesus is." I'm glad I know who Jesus is.

He's more than just a story. He is the King of glory. Paul came to Mars Hill and the Athenian philosophers who were there began to debate with him. He did not denigrate them. He didn't put them down. In Acts 17:es 22 and 23, then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious." That's really a bad translation. It doesn't come across the way Paul said it. He was being very gracious. He said, "I perceive that you are devoted to religion.

You are very religious people. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God." the man upstairs, the higher power, the cosmic force, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you, that God whose presence you acknowledge, the one that you don't know, let me introduce you to him because I have met him face to face on a road to Damascus. I was knocked down by the light and I asked who it was that was persecuting me and he told me by way of introduction, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

May I tell you today that it is great to acknowledge that there is a God, but oh, if you need a reason to praise tonight, it's because you have come into a revelation knowledge of who that God is. I know him by name. I have a personal relationship. Let me if you don't know who God is, let me introduce you to my Jesus. For he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last.

He is the ALMIGHTY GOD. It's good to know who you're worshiping. Jesus told the woman at the well in John chapter 4 verse 22, "You worship, you know not what. You don't know what you're worshiping. We know what we worship. For salvation is of the Jews." And I'm sure she was scratching her head at that point. Isn't worship about a place? Isn't worship about a system? And he takes it a step further explaining God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Now truth requires knowledge. Hello. Truth requires knowledge. You if you don't know stuff, you can't know what's the truth. You've got to know. He said, you'll know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Truth is not a a a body of doctrine. Truth is a person. Jesus said, "I am the truth. I am the you know the truth and he has made you free tonight." So Jesus said, "You worship him in spirit and in truth." And so that only by truly knowing him will it produce genuine worshippers offering unadulterated and unalloed and undiluted praise.

That's why it's good sometimes to look at some of the missionary clips and see those people. They may not know as much as we know. They may not have as much as we have, but they know one thing. When somebody gets up and starts talking about their Jesus, it's like there is a release and a freedom that comes to those people overseas. When when you find genuine worshippers, there's going to be unadulterated expression of that worship in praise and adoration unto God. The 29th Psalm reminds us that if we know him, we owe him.

If we know him, we owe him. Give unto the Lord, oh ye mighty. Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Listen, I got into a argument with AI, but I'm smarter than they are. I ask about I asked AI, you know, is is uh Sister Amber, I asked AI if strength was a was a metric. And AI come back and said, "No, strength is not a metric." I beg to differ with you.

You can measure strength. Yeah. Brother Randy was telling me and and y'all know Jared bench press is like 500 pounds. Yeah, he's got arms thicker than my waist. You can measure strength. You put it under a load and you find out how how strong stuff is. And you know, you they used to put this on boxes. It had a a bursting strength that was put on the bottom. How much how many pounds you can put in that box. Don't tell me AI that strength is not measurable because the Bible says it is.

Glory and strength. This is due unto the name of the Lord. Glory and strength are both measurable terms. They're terms of evaluation. We sang about as we begin this service that the the worth you are worthy. You are worthy. You know worship comes from that worthhip. Worthship. So we make an evaluation and and the glory the glory kabode is the weight associated with the name. Stay with me for a minute here. I'm failing to go somewhere. The glory has a weight attached to it. If you don't believe that, if you don't believe that, you got to you got to look at this.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment workketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal what? Gloryy's got to wait. It's measurable. Glory has a weight. In Exodus in Exodus 33:18 and 19, and he said, I beseech thee, this is Moses talking to God. I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. The weight is always associated with the name.

The weight of glory is always associated with the name. When God reveals himself in a name, he's revealing himself in his glory. He said, "I am Jehovah Roofa. I'm the Lord that heals you." Moses said, "Jehovani." He is the Lord my banner. Every time he was revealing his name, he was revealing his glory, some aspect of his glory. And he was showing his glory. And every time he revealed his glory, the expectation was when I show you my glory, I expect a response out of you.

You should be praising the name of the Lord that's just been revealed. Hallelujah. So we when we praise we evaluate his worth. We make a determination. The strength h how do you how do you evaluate God's glory? I'll tell you how. As much as he is revealed to you, that's how much you praise. God ever healed anybody in here? I know he has me several times. I could take off on testimony time right here. But when he reveals himself to you, you have a reason to praise because that praise is a testimony.

It's a witnesses, a witness unto him. And so you I have to evaluate what has God shown me that I can praise him for. What has God done for you? Because when he did that, he was revealing something of his glory to you. And so the strength he's the psalmist said, give him glory and we give him him glory and strength. The strength of the the the Lord can be measured and assigned a value. The name Jesus said all power in heaven and earth is given unto me.

Okay? And so the Bible says that neither is there salvation in any other for there's none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. Demons are subject to the strength that is in the name of the Lord. Sickness is is subjected to the the Hallelujah. Good report. Good report. That's the Lord showing his strength in your life. And and for that reason, you owe him that. You owe him that. He expects that out of you. When he reveals the power and the glory, then there is something that is expected in return.

And that is a praise that comes out of our spirit. There is no limit to the strength of the Lord. He doesn't bend. HE DOESN'T PAL. HE DOESN'T BREAK under any load that you might put him under. He will stand the test. Yeah. We come to church, we're making an evaluation about who God is and how much I owe him every time we come here. What's it worth? Only when something can be calculated and measured can a value be assigned to it. Let me say that again.

Only when something can be calculated and measured can you assign a value or a worth to it. Okay. I go to the deli counter. Shnooks, right? I love I love the deli counter. I like the smells of the deli counter. I like the I like to get the samples from the deli counter. It's my pilgrimage Mecca. I go to the deli counter and uh and here's what they have done at the deli counter. My cinjun turkey has a dollar value assigned to it by the pound, by the half pound, by the third of pound.

It has a dollar value, a monetary value assigned to it. But that same turkey also has a weight value assigned to it. So that when I calculate the monetary value assigned times the weight that is assigned, I come up with a value, a worth. What's that turkey worth to you? 13.99 a pound. I never buy a pound. 13.99 a pound. So I say, "Give me a third of pound of that." Slice very thin. I like to pile it on. So So you get what I'm saying?

You use these assigned values of monetary and weight to come up with a determination of a worth or a value or a price. How do we evaluate God? Because that's going to be the basis of your praise. How much value does God have in your life? Because that will determine the praise. Worth ship. Worth ship. We determine his worth. And the quality of our worship is determined by how much we value him. For Judas, he was only worth 30 pieces of silver. To Pilate, he was just the man.

But to those of us who have been brought out of darkness into a marvelous light, he is more than just a man. He is more than just a figure out of history. He is not just some religious leader. He is the God who has picked us up out of the pit and set our feet on a foundation of strength. HE IS THE GOD WHO HAS SAVED ME AND BROUGHT ME OUT OF DARKNESS. How can I not praise him when I base my eternal destiny on what he has added into my life?

So to the unbeliever, there is no value in worship. There's no value in praise. That's because God's value can only be determined in your spirit. So then praise is a reflection of our evaluation of his worth. The key is that praise is based upon worship and worship is an assessed value. When I see him I watched a video of a dog that had been separated Sister Becky from its owner for years. And when they brought that dog back to that owner, you couldn't stop him. He still recognized his master after all of those years away from him.

I know when we get to heaven, we talk about this. When we get to heaven and I see him for the first time, when I see him for the first time, as a matter of fact, you know what? Prounio, the the Greek term for worship, procio kune is a dog. They got they derived that compound Greek word from a dog licking its master's hand. Worship. Worship. Prokunio. Worship. I watched that dog and he would not stop. There was no holding him back. He was jumping up, licking that man's face, dancing all around, pawing on him, and he'd settle down for a minute and then he'd go right back to it.

Every time he got a glimpse of his master Tony, every time he saw the one that had purchased him, every every time that he looked at him again, it was with new and fresh vision. And he said, "That's my master." And he just took off again, jumping on him and and bouncing around and licking on that man's face. You could not stop it. Listen, we don't have to wait uh to get to heaven and stand before that throne. Uh you have come to the throne room of God.

When you come into the house of God, oh that men would praise the Lord. When I get a glimpse of him as he really IS WHEN I STAND IN THE presence of my master, I HAVE GOT TO PRAISE HIM. I'VE GOT to give him the glory and the strength that is due unto his name. Praise God. I know it's Wednesday night. I shouldn't be getting excited like this. I'm going to have a stroke someday. But I'll go out happy. Hallelujah. When I see him, when I just catch a glimpse of him, when I get around the presence of God, there ain't nothing better than this.

You don't find anything that will top this. When you get in the presence of the Almighty God and you recognize him for who he is, I'll hurry. Praise flows from affirmation of accomplishment. Affirmation of accomplishment. You praise him additionally behind beyond that he simply is. We know that he is. We believe that he is. And you praise him beyond who he is. You praise him for what he's done. Now, you have my permission tonight. You can sit on your hands if you want to when you come to the house of God.

If he hasn't done a thing for you, you don't owe him anything. Psalm 150 verses 1 and two. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. Watch. Praise him for his mighty acts. Sister Michelle. God's done it again. Hallelujah. We were believing for a good report and we got a good report. Hallelujah. God doesn't stop. He never stops working. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Listen, the presence inspires praise because God shows up. The glory inspires praise when God shows off.

The presence, we talk about that often. Oh, the presence of the Lord is here. That's great. That's when he shows up. But when he shows his power, that's when he shows out. It's when he shows what he can do. Praise him for his excellent greatness, but praise him for his mighty acts. When God does something, we owe him a praise. YEAH. WHEN GOD does something, we owe him a praise. Isaiah spoke of God this way. And I got kind of a charge out of this because some some people are gym rats, you know, and and the thing about gym rats is they they want to show off, brother Michael.

They want to show when they build their muscles up, right? They want to they want to they want to wear a tank top or want to wear short sleeve shirts and and show how much muscles they've got when they've been Isaiah spoke of the Lord in chapter 52:es 9 and 10. He said this, "Break forth into joy." He's admonishing people to praise the Lord. Break forth into joy. Sing together you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. And then he goes on to say, "The Lord hath made bare." Come on, Lord.

If you got them, flown them. Show them. Bear that arm. Listen, I've talked to God this way. I appreciate being in the presence. That's when you show up. You're always with me. I know when when the presence manifests itself. But there are times in my life when I have needed God to take off his jacket. I've needed him to take off his jacket and begin to flex his MUSCLES AND SHOW ME how strong you really are. I need more than just somebody with me. I need somebody to fight my battles sometimes.

I need somebody to heal me sometimes. I need somebody to lift me sometimes. I want the Lord to bear his arm in the eyes of all the nations. This is a kind of praise that is a witness. It's a physical expression of a spiritual work. I preached here at IPA on Sunday. about the aftermath of a miracle. The lame man. The beauty of this was, listen, some of y'all say, "I'm not very expressive." All you are. It just takes the right stimulus. That's all. You're expressive in the right environment.

when everything should radiate from this right here. This should be the center of everything. The lame man been been down for 40 years. Carried for 40 years. 40 years. I ride from here to Springfield. Get out of the van and I look like a Yeah, I got to get my bearings again. Get my legs under me. This man had been lame from his mother's womb. 40 years he had been lame. And God did a miracle. God did a miracle. Nobody saw it. Nobody saw it. Nobody saw the ankle bones get healed.

Nobody saw the muscles and the senus that had shrunken get fixed. Nobody saw that. This man had been sitting there on that same spot. Day after day, they saw him. They did not see the miracle that happened to him was invisible. What they did see though when this man listen walking is a learned skill. You don't just get up and walk. This man's been sitting for 40 years. I used to be in PE class way back in in the day, back in the before the flood, and I would watch some of these uncoordinated kids.

They could not do jumping jacks. They couldn't do that. They were just all over the place. Leaping is a coordination skill that is learned. They didn't see what went on on the inside, but he got their attention with things that were going on on the outside. The Bible says he got up, he started walking, he started leaping. And when he did that, it got their attention. >> It was the praise, the external expression. They could not see the internal miracle, but they saw the external expression and it got their attention and they began to praise and glorify and magnify God.

The way we're going to reach our world is when we become the church that praises God for every little thing. They'll never see the miracle that takes place when your sins are forgiven. But they can see the life that's been changed that rejoices in the Lord for the salvation that's been brought in their life. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Praise God. You can stand. I'm sorry. Once again, I lapsed into my preaching voice.

This 107th Psalm is an oral history. You go back and read it. It's an oral history of redemption, of provision, of victory, of healings and miracles wrought by the God of Israel. And the psalmist says, "Oh, that man would praise the Lord for everything that he's done." Recounting what God has done should bring a praise for all of the above. Because he is, because I know who he is, and because he's done great things. Just three simple reasons why I give praise freely, extravagantly, and continually.

I don't do this at Walmart. It don't mean that I stop praising. Continual and continuous are two different things. Continuous is an unbroken thread. continual is that when I feel the spirit, whether I'm at home, sitting in my recliner, driving down the road, wherever I am, continually, thy praise shall continually be in my mouth. Continually, not continuously. It's not, you know, I have normal conversations, but oh, there's there's points in the day when I just got to say, I still believe. I still believe that you are.

I'm going to praise you. He has touched me, Bishop. He healed me that December 19th of that dizziness. I have not been plagued with it anymore. You can't see that, but I know that last December I I nearly lost my eyes. I went to the doctor. He he diagnosed me with diabetes. I hope he's not listening tonight. I have been off my diabetes medicine now for a while. I just quit taking it because I believe the Lord healed me. My blood numbers have been just fine without glyphoside and metformin and all that stuff.

I'm just believing that the Lord has done it again. Why should I not praise him for all the the mighty works that he's done? for all of the above. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks unto his name. Just a thanksgiving offering. That's what praise is. It's just extolling the virtues. Not not for forgiveness. I'm glad for that. This was an offering that was brought not for transa uh transgressions or trespasses, but but it was just from a heart that says, "I just want to acknowledge the Lord.

I just want to bring him a gift, the fruit of my lips, the the praise that I owe him because I believe he is. Because I know who he is and I know that he's worked in my life." Let's give him a praise together right now. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Come on, LIFT A PRAISE. IF YOU'VE EVER done anything in your life, lift a praise to him tonight. Praise God.