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(Psa 150:6)
"Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD.
Praise ye the LORD."
Introduction:
Praise is one of the most
powerful tools in the Christian life. It is praise that
opens heaven and
opposes hell. Praise turns
defeat into delight and sadness into gladness. Beloved,
praising is amazing!
Praising is so amazing because praise will
stir up the
child of God and it will
shake up the
church of God. Here’s the
story about praising God in the darkest hour of trial. Each letter in
the word praise is itself a characteristic of praise.
·
P –
PLEASES THE SAVIOR
(V.25)
A.
Praise
Celebrates Jesus (25a)
God is pleased when I sing unto Him. “Sang” =
to celebrate. (Psa 66:2)
"Sing forth the honour
of his name: make his praise glorious." (Psa 147:1)
"Praise ye the LORD:
for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and
praise is comely."
B.
Praise Confesses
Jesus (25b)
“Heard
them” =
herd attentively. Their
praise confessed the Savior and brought conviction to the sinner
(prisoners).
·
R –
RELEASES THE SPIRIT
(V.26)
When praise releases the Spirit
A.
The Lord
Shows Up (26a)
“Suddenly”
= unexpectedly. “Earthquake”
= shook with the power of God!
B.
Great Liberty
Shows Up (26b)
(2 Cor
3:17) "...where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Doors opened; bands
loosed.
·
A –
ACKNOWLEDGES GOD’S
SOVEREIGNTY (VV.23-24)
The circumstances of life do not make us what we are,
they reveal what we are!
Praise connected them with a:
A.
Spiritual
Source
In the darkest hour of trial (midnight) they acknowledged God. They
Prayed – that took care of
tomorrow.
B.
Spiritual
Strength
They
Praised God - “Even if I don’t understand I will trust you anyway!”
·
I –
INTERRUPTS SATAN
(VV.16-19)
Praise is a road-block on the pathway to perversion.
Paul and Silas were in prison to be punished, but God interrupted the
devil’s plans and changed the location of the revival! Let’s go on the
offensive! Praise interrupts Satan!
·
S –
SPEAKS TO SINNERS
(VV.27-31)
A vibrate, lively worship service is a wonderful
evangelistic opportunity.
A.
The Miracle
(vv.27-30)
Here is a 2nd quake (v.29). The first
shook the jail, the second shook the jailer!
B.
The Message
(v.31)
“What must I do?” IT’S DONE!!! Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ! Lord = Master
(surrender your will); Jesus
= Son of God (surrender your heart);
Christ = Messiah (surrender
your intellect).
·
E –
ENERGIZES THE SAINTS
(VV.32-34)
Salvation produces the fruit of a Christian. There is
a change that is visible. Do those around you know that you are a
Christian without you having to tell them?
Conclusion:
As God’s people, we must learn
the lesson of praise! If we really believe what the Bible says about
praise and practice it, we would see far fewer
dry Churches, and even fewer
discouraged Christians.
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