Transcript Sacrifice of Praise
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Sacrifice of Praise
a study in joyful living by
Ken Chant
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Introduction
Text: Hosea 14:2 –
“Come back to the Lord, and bring words with you . . . Making him an offering of the calves of your lips!”
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Notice the importance of
words
!
What you say and how you say it can effect your destiny for ever!
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Because the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which holds all things together knows what is said; 8 therefore no one who utters unrighteous things will escape notice, and justice, when it punishes, will not pass him by. (Wis 1:7-8)
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Notice too that the most acceptable sacrifice we can offer God is our praise!
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But when is praise a sacrifice?
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When it is Offered Continually
See Hebrews 13:15 −
“Through Jesus, let us offer to God continually name.” a sacrifice of praise – that is, the fruit of lips that rejoice in his
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Shall we praise God only when the sun is shining, or when worship makes us happy?
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But that leads to sadly spasmodic praise – which in the end is no praise at all!
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The best time to praise God is when you least feel like it!
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Praise gains its greatest power when it hurts.
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But mark the difference between praising God “in” or “for” all things.
So we can always praise God for such realities as –
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the opportunity to experience a miracle of answered prayer
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the unchanged reality of the victory that is ours in Christ
the Father’s unwavering love, which we know will not fail us in our time of need
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the certainty that you can rise up in the power of the Holy Spirit and crush your enemy underfoot
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the knowledge that you are still indwelt by Christ, the hope of all glory
and perhaps best of all –
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the assurance that our defeat or failure on earth cannot affect the righteousness and authority that remain safely ours in the heavenlies, in Christ!
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When it is Offered Brokenly
See Micah 7:8-10 –
“Hah, my enemy! You rejoice too soon! I may have fallen, but I will stand up again. I may seem to be surrounded by darkness, but the Lord is still my light. . . .
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. . . I will bear with the anger of the Lord . . . and he will bring me out into the light and once again show me his righteousness!”
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How hard it is to praise God in the face of our own defeat! Such as –
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when you have had a great miracle of healing, but then, some months later, the disease returns with greater ferocity than before
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when, against your expectation, you are dismissed from your job
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when some cherished goal eludes you
when, against your own loathing of it, sin has overwhelmed you.
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But the prophet refused to capitulate to failure – he would not accept defeat as final – he refused to bow before his enemy’s scorn – he would not despair, even in the face of divine indignation!
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The spiritual principle is this: do you
believe what God says about you in Christ , or what you say about yourself in defeat ?
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When it is Offered Confidently
Praise is never so hard as when it seems that God himself has failed.
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We sometimes feel like crying with Jeremiah –
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“Lord, why do you tell such terrible lies? . . . You have failed me when I most needed you! . . . You are like a desert mirage, or like a brook that promises abundant water, but then runs dry!” 20:7; and cp. 4:10) (15:17-18, based on the KJV; and also 12:1-2;
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What happens to the man who calls God a liar?
Something terrible?
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No, the Lord answered words with words – but it was a stern reply –
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“Stop talking such nonsense. Speak some sense instead! Only if you keep on trusting me will I let you stay my spokesman. You should make them turn around, and not let them turn you around!”
(vs. 19)
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Next Steps
“Bring words with you when you come to me!”
– thus said the Lord through Hosea.
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This is a major key to ongoing victory in Christ – that is, setting ourselves to
“offer a sacrifice of praise”.
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God deserves our praise just because of who he is.
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So then, let our song never be silenced!
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