WHY PRAISE GOD LIKE THIS?
Hebrews 13:8-15 (KJV)
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
There is, within this passage, a form of Thanksgiving that is little known and less practiced.
It is the sacrifice of praise to God and is accomplished by complete dedication to God and separation from the world.
As with all forms of Thanksgiving, it is not essential for salvation, but it is the will of God concerning you.[1]
I began meditating on that this week and realized
· A Christian can be heaven bound without this sacrifice of praise
· A Christian can be happy in this world without this sacrifice of praise
· A Christian can have a good marriage without this sacrifice of praise
· A Christian can raise a good family without this sacrifice of praise
· A Christian can be[2]a good church member without this sacrifice of praise
· A Christian can even be a servant of the Lord without this sacrifice of praise
So I wondered, why would a person want to do it?
If I can have all of the most cherished rewards of the Christian faith, and fewer of the more unpleasant side-effects[3]of the Christian faith, what possible motivation could there be to offer God the sacrifice of praise that springs from leaving worldliness in favor of a separated and dedicated life to God?
I. DO IT FOR SOULS
Romans 1:14-16 (KJV)
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
There is no greater way to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ than to seek to save lost souls.[4]
If the Christian life is anything it is one lived to reconcile man to God.[5]
Whether we mean:
· Helping the lost man to be eternally saved or
· Encouraging the saved man in his earthly way
This is something that matters to God
This was the heartbeat of Jesus Christ.[6]
Consider the life of Apostle Paul. He said,
2 Corinthians 5:13-15 (KJV)
For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
For the love of Christ constraineth us;because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
The love of Christ led him to love others to such a degree that he left everything He knew to help others:
· Know Christ as Saviour and
· Grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord
Why would anyone sacrifice their own personal comforts?
· Why would they voluntarily tithe of their income to their local church and give beyond that to missions and other special offerings?
· Why would they give up personal time to witness to the unsaved or visit and encourage a believer?
· Why would they suffer the jeers and belittling of workmates?
· Why would that suffer the potential alienation of friends and family for a godly testimony in Jesus Christ?
One reason, and to some people, the only one that matters is the love of souls.
I see another Biblical motivation to offer God this special Thanksgiving
II. DO IT FOR OUR CULTURE
Matthew 5:13-16 (KJV)
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
There is a principle established all the way back in Genesis that the godly serve to protect the world from ungodliness and from judgment.
The Flood
Genesis 6:5-8 (KJV)
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
We know that Noah was a preacher of righteousness.
Even so, the wickedness of man had so overwhelmed the earth that God determined he would destroy man from the face of the earth.
But Noah found grace.
God would not destroy the world while Noah was without help.
For 120 years Noah and his family built the ark as God instructed. For those same 120 years, we believe, he preached for men to repent.
Finally the day came the ark was ready.
God did not allow the rains to begin until Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives were safely protected.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 18:17-21 (KJV)
And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
God told Abraham that the cup of iniquity in Sodom and Gomorrah was full. He was about to destroy the cities.
But Abraham knew that just Lot[7]was there.
Abraham had no way of knowing how many people Lot might have influenced for righteousness, but he assumed he had influenced some.
So Abraham prayed,
“God, will you spare the city for fifty righteous people?
Will you spare it for forty-five? Will you spare it for forty?”
All the way down to ten righteous people, Abraham prayed. Surely Lot had reached ten people with news of the Living God.
“God, will you spare the city for ten?”
God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah would have been cancelled if there had been as few as ten righteous souls in the city.
As it was, God would not allow the judgment to begin until Lot, his wife, and two of his daughters were safely removed from the city.
Jeremiah was a saving influence in Jerusalem of his day.
If only the people would have listened to his message, their lives could have been spared.
There is something that withholds the full wrath of Antichrist right now
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 (KJV)
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
I believe that which withholds and restrains Antichrist today is the Christian.
· He is salt
· He is light
· He is indwelt by the Holy Ghost
One of these days – the next event on God’s prophetic calendar – all Christians will be removed from this earth in the rapture.[8]
When that happens Antichrist will be free to unleash his wrath in a seven-year tribulation upon this earth.
That can’t happen until the salt and the light is gone.
But Jesus offered this caveat:
Matthew 5:13 (KJV)
… but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Christians are the preserving salt in our culture, but not if we have lost our savour.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
One reason to come out of this world and be separate for God, one reason to offer to God the sacrifice of praise is to protect our culture as long as possible.
Do it for souls
Do it for the culture
There is a third, and, I think, most compelling reason to offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
III. DO IT FOR THE LORD
Revelation 4:10-11 (KJV)
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Romans 11:30-36 (KJV)
For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
[and it is because of this mercy upon all that Paul praises God]
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Offer to God this thanksgiving because He is worthy of it.
Conclusion
Here’s the thing.
All three of these motivators require that we give up selfishness.
There is no personal benefit.
The highest form of Thanksgiving we can offer God is only possible when stop looking at self and start looking outside ourselves.
Come out of this world, dedicate yourself to the Lord. Suffer his reproach,
· Do it so lost souls will be saved
· Do it so sin is held back as long as possible and
· Do it for the pleasure, praise and thanksgiving of God
[1]1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
[2]considered
[3]2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV)
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
[4]Luke 19:10 (KJV)
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
[5]2 Corinthians 5:18 (KJV)
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
[6]Someone has observed, “God only had one Son. And He made Him to be a missionary.”
[7]2 Peter 2:7 (KJV)
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
[8]1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (KJV)
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
