The Perpetuity of Praise, Part 1

The Christmas season comes very rapidly.

It leaves just as quickly. It comes and it goes.

And involved in the Christmas season is our time to celebrate

the birth of the Christ child, to focus in on the celebration

of the season. And the question comes, is that

celebration that we engage in, is it genuine or is it

superficial? Is it a real celebration or is

it a figment of our imagination? Celebration.

The celebration of Christmas doesn't end on the 25th of

December. In fact, the celebration of

Christmas is to be a perpetual celebration, a continual

celebration and ongoing celebration all throughout our

lives, not just during the season.

But so many of us have a seasonal celebration instead of

a perpetual celebration. So the question comes, is my

celebration of the Christmas season 1 that's genuine or

superficial? So let me ask you a couple of

questions. If you are more concerned about

your Christmas tree then Calvary's tree, your celebration

is a superficial celebration. If you're more concerned about

the lights on your house instead of the lights in your heart, you

have a very superficial, shallow celebration.

If you're more concerned about what Santa will bring instead of

the savior you are to believe, you have a very superficial

celebration. In fact, if your celebration is

about me and my satisfaction instead of the Master in His

glorification, then you have a superficial celebration not just

of the season, but all throughout your life.

If you're more excited about the the gifts you receive more so

than the God you are to Revere, your celebration is a

superficial celebration. In other words, what happens in

the Christmas season is indicative of what happens

throughout the rest of my life, because there is to be a a

celebration, a a praise, a a gratefulness, a a Thanksgiving

to God. That's not season seasonal, but

perpetual. In fact, in the aftermath of the

advent or in following the festivities of the season, you

should be going more with the story than less with the story.

You should be growing more in intimacy than growing less in

intimacy. You should be giving more to the

ministry, not less to the ministry.

You should be guarding your testimony more than less.

You should be guiding your family more than before.

You should be glorifying God's majesty more than before.

You see, so many times we we look at a celebration of the

season as something that's passing instead of something

that's enduring. And so I want to talk to you

this morning and next week about the perpetuity of praise.

That is why praise is to be continual, why it's to be

perpetual in your life. When you talk about perpetuity,

you're talking about a state or the quality of something that's

enduring. We talk about the perpetuity of

praise because praise is that which happens all throughout

eternity. The four living creatures, night

and day, from all eternity past till eternity into the future,

say the same thing over and over again.

And so because they are repeating the majestic nature of

their God, they are overwhelmed with him.

They're involved in the the perpetuity of praise.

Well, we, as we journey along the pathway of praise, need to

understand how it is that this praise is to be something that's

continual every single day, every week, every month of the

year, not just during the Christmas season.

So we began this study a few months ago, and we're going to

continue it into the new year because we want your New year to

be filled with praise to your God.

If you got your Bible, turn with me to Psalm 148.

Psalm 148 is a unique Psalm because there is no prayer,

there is no plea, there is no petition.

It's all about praise. It begins with Hallelujah and it

ends with Hallelujah. So to Psalm 146, one, 47149 and

150. They all begin with the same

phrase, praise the Lord. But Psalm 148 is is a unique

Psalm because that the psalmist isn't asking God for anything,

he's just praising God for who he is.

And you will note that there is to be a heavenly praise as well

as an earthly praise. You will note in the 1st 6

verses that praise is to be done in the celestial.

In verses 7, the following praise is to be done in the

terrestrial. So you have celestial praise and

terrestrial praise, you have heavenly praise, and you have

earthly praise. Read along with me.

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord from the heavens.

This is the celestial praise. Praise Him in the heights,

praise them all as angels, praise them all as hosts, Praise

Him sun and moon, Praise Him All Stars of light.

Praise Him highest heavens and the waters that are above the

heavens. Let them praise the name of the

Lord, for He commanded, and they were created.

So there is to be heavenly beings that praise the Lord, and

there are heavenly bodies, the stars and the heavens that

praise the Lord. And then he says this.

He says He has also established them forever and ever.

He has made a decree which will not pass away.

For seven, praise the Lord from the earth.

So first he says, praise the Lord from the heavens, That's

celestial praise. Now praise the Lord from the

earth. That is terrestrial praise.

So he says, sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and

clouds, stormy wind fulfilling his word, mountains and all

hills, fruit trees and all Cedars, beasts and all cattle,

creeping things and wing fowl, kings of the earth and all

peoples, Princess and all judges of the earth, both young men and

virgins, old men and children, let them praise the name of the

Lord, for His name alone is exalted.

His glory is above earth and heaven, and He has lifted up a

horn for his people. Praise for all his godly ones,

even the sons of Israel, a people near to him.

Hallelujah or praise the Lord. Notice the repetition of the

praise that says, Let them praise the name of the Lord.

Let them praise the nature and character of God, for He is the

Creator of all things. He is the author of all things

and we are to be involved in the praise of God.

And so that emphasizes the fact that there is to be something

happening all the time. So our theme verse for the

series is Isaiah 4321, which says the people that I have

formed for myself, they will declare my praise.

In other words, God's people will do something, they will

praise him. It's a fact.

It's what God's people do. They're involved in perpetual

praise. And so we need to understand how

it is I engage in that from day-to-day.

How can I go through the end of this year into a new year

knowing that all the things that have taken place in my life,

both negative and positive, good and bad, how do I maintain the

perpetuity of praise? How do I do that as I embark on

a a new year not knowing anything that's going to happen

because it's all under the sovereign plan of the living

God? But how can I in advance know

that my life is to be characterized with perpetual

praise? Remember Psalm 34 verse #1 I

will bless the Lord at all times.

Not sometimes, not good times or just good times, but all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

So somehow the psalmist knew about perpetual praise and how

it's to be continually in his mouth.

And then you have Psalm one, O 4, verse 33.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.

And then he says I will sing praise to my God while I have my

being. In other words, as long as I'm

alive, I'm going to praise the Lord.

As long as I'm breathing, it's about praising the Lord, singing

praises to His name. And you got to ask yourself, is

that you? Is that me?

Is that how we live our lives? So what are the character

qualities of the person who understands the perpetuity of

praise? I'm going to give them to you

this week and next week #1 is this.

You must realize that His power is always available.

His power is always available. If God commands you to do

something, he will always give you the power to accomplish it.

God's not going to ask you to do something and say, well, I, I

hope you work it out. I hope you can get your act

together. I, I hope this is going to be

easy for you. I know it's difficult, but

hopefully you can make it easier on yourself.

No, God makes sure that he gives you the power to accomplish

everything you need to accomplish.

God's power is absolutely unique.

It's unlike anything we ever know.

In fact, Psalm 77 verse 13 says this Your way, O God is holy,

Psalms 77:13

what God is great like our God. You are the God who works

wonders. You have made known your

strength among the peoples. You have by your power redeemed

your people, the sons of God and Joseph.

Psalm 6211 says that power belongs to God.

He is called El Shaddai, the almighty God.

In fact, the Bible says in Job 9 verse #19 if it is a matter of

power, behold, God is the strong one.

Revelation 19/6 says Alleluia. For the Lord God, omnipotent

reigns. God is all powerful.

But sometimes I think we can, we can say that God's all powerful.

We can sing about the power of God.

We can even shout that God is powerful.

But isn't it interesting that very few people show that God is

powerful? We we live in the realm of I

can't. My mom used to always say can't

die. Good, bury them.

Does your mom used to say that? Some mom used to always say,

mom, I can't do that. She says can't die and could

bury them. In other words, you can do it,

you just don't want to do it. You choose not to do it.

We say I, I can't love this person or that person.

Well, yes, you can. You just choose not to or you

won't. You say I can't forgive what

they've done to me. Yes, you can.

You just won't forgive that person.

You You say I can't return good for evil.

Well you can, you just choose not to.

Or you refuse to do what God has said.

We'll say things like I can't overcome my fear.

Yes you can, because perfect love casts out fear.

You just choose not to. I can't overcome my anxious

feelings. Yes, you can.

You've just chosen not to. You see, we, we, we don't

understand the power of God. So, so God says to his men, he

says in Acts chapter one verse #8 that the, the Holy Spirit

will come upon you and you will, you, you shall receive power,

power and you shall be my witnesses.

You're going to receive something and then you're going

to become something. You're going to become what I

need you to be because the power that I'm going to infuse you

with, and that is the Spirit of the living God.

And if you read the book of Acts, you see a bunch of men who

were changed drastically from the Gospels.

Why? Because the Spirit of God

indwells them, empowers them to accomplish all that God designed

them to accomplish. That's why they could continue

to praise the name of God, rejoice in the midst of their

suffering. Why?

Because they were living under the power of the living God.

So Paul tells Timothy in second Timothy one verse #7 God has not

given you a spirit of timidity. Stop being timid, Timothy.

Stop being fearful, Timothy. Because God didn't give you that

kind of spirit. Instead, He gave you spirit of

power, of love and of self-discipline.

He gives you the the spirit that's powerful enough to help

you to love your enemies and to be able to discipline your life

to the obedience of God. You see, we can, we can speak

about the power of God and we can sing about the power of God.

We just don't show that we are under the power of the living

God. Will we live as if God doesn't

even exist. We live as practical atheists as

there is as if there is no God. That I can't do what God's

called me to do. But you can because God has

equipped you with the Spirit. When you walk in the Spirit and

you're filled with the Spirit of God, you're able to accomplish

great things. Remember what Paul prayed in the

book of Ephesians, the first chapter Paul says, and chapter

one verse #18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be

enlightened so you will know what is the hope of His calling,

What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the

Saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His

power toward us who believe? Paul says, I want you to

understand the surpassing greatness of His power.

What kind of power? He says these are in accordance

with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought

about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him

at the right hand in the heavenly places.

It's the power of God that did that.

And my, my prayer, Paul says for you and Ephesus, is that somehow

you, your eyes will be open to the greatness of surpassing

greatness of the power of God. And if if you go to chapter 3 of

Ephesians, he says that this way verse 20.

Now to him who was able to do far more abundantly beyond all

that we ask or think according to the power that works within

us. It's the power of God that's

working within us. My life can be lived in a state

of perpetual praise because the power of God is always

available. It's always there, it's never

dormant. It's always available to me and

to you. So we can't live in the realm of

I can't do this or I can't do what God's called me to do.

I can't do what God's commanded me to do.

I can't do. Yes, you can.

You just choose not to, or you refuse to obey what God has

said. His power is always available.

Listen to what Second Chronicles 16 says, for the eyes of the

Lord move to and fro throughout the earth, that He may

strengthen those whose heart is completely his.

God's whole desire is to strengthen the heart of those

that are completely his. In fact, that that's what

salvation is all about. That is the that what the new

covenant promise is all about. Listen to the words in Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36:22

chapter 36, verse 22. Therefore say to the House of

Israel. Thus says the Lord God.

It is not for your sake, O House of Israel, that I am about to

act, but for My holy name which you have profaned among the

nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of

My great name which has been profaned among the nations which

you have profaned in their midst.

Then the nations will know that I am the Lord.

The Lord makes it very clear that Israel had profaned His

name among the nations. Well, the only way that can be

reversed is if God acts. And so He gives the new covenant

promise. Listen to what He says.

He says, when I prove myself holy among you in their sight.

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the

lands, and bring you into your own land.

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.

I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your

idols. Moreover, I will give you a new

heart and put a new spirit within you.

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give

you a heart of flesh. And I will pour my spirit within

you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be

careful to observe my ordinances.

God says I'm going to cause you to obey me, I'm going to cause

you to follow me. That that's why it's incongruous

for someone to say that I love the Lord, I serve the Lord, I

believe in the Lord and continue a life of disobedience to the

Lord because the new covenant promises is that God says I will

put my spirit in you. It's not a spirit of timidity,

but of power and of love and of self-discipline so that you are

able to do what I've commanded you to do.

You see, God equips us for all those things so we can live the

life He's called us to live. We can honor His beautiful name.

We can live a life of perpetual praise.

Why? Because the power of God is

always available. It was Jeremiah who said in

Jeremiah 32, Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the

heavens and the earth by your great power and by your

outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for

you. Verse 26 Then the word of the

Lord came to Jeremiah, say, and behold, I am the Lord, the God

of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for

me? The answer is no.

Isaiah 40 tells us that he he never wearies, He never tires.

God doesn't doesn't give you strength.

And then sit back and say I've got to replenish myself so I can

give somebody else strength. God doesn't work that way.

That way God is power, and so power is who he is.

He is He, the omnipotent God, and so he never wearies, He

never tires. So when He dispenses His

strength to His people, he doesn't have to replenish that

which He has dispensed because He's all powerful.

And so He's always made his power available to His people.

That allows you to live a life of perpetual praise, no matter

what the situation, no matter what the circumstance.

You can never say I can't do that because God has enabled you

to do that to the power of the Spirit of God that lives within

you. So principle number one is that

his power is always available. Principle number 2 is this.

His promises are always undeniable.

His promises are always undeniable, or you can say His

promises are always dependable, they're always reliable.

God makes a promise. He cannot lie.

He keeps His word, and therefore when He says the people that I

have formed for myself, they will declare my praise.

He tells you that it's possible to do this because it's a

promise that He's given to infuse you with His strength to

make it all possible. His His promises are undeniable.

Second Corinthians 120 All the promises of God are yes in

Christ Jesus. All the promises of God are yes

in Christ Jesus. The promise of peace is yes in

Christ. The promise of joy is yes in

Christ. The promise of salvation is yes

in Christ. The promise of eternal life is

yes in Christ. The promise of comfort is yes in

Christ. Christ is the fulfilment of all

promises that That's why we encourage you throughout the

Christmas season to at least get a copy of the book The Christ of

Christmas that there are there are 333 specific promises

centered on the coming of the Messiah and only 109 of them

were fulfilled in his first coming.

That means that there are 224 yet to be fulfilled.

But of the 100 and 925 of them are here that you can read, that

you can study, that you can understand when God makes a

promise, he keeps the promise. So it's about promises foretold

and promises fulfilled. Why?

It builds your trust in what God has said.

It makes you realize how his promises are undeniable,

dependable, reliable. God always keeps his word.

Now if you were with us on on on Christmas Eve, we talked about

celebrating the light and when we looked at 9 different

characters that would help you understand how to celebrate the

light. All all Christmas characters in

the Christmas narrative. And the first one was Zacharias.

Because when the Angel Gabriel came to Zacharias, he denied the

certainty of the promises of God.

He doubted the reliability of the promises of God.

So what did God do? He made him deaf and dumb.

He could not hear and he could not speak for nine months.

But why would God do that? Because in order for him to

understand the promises of God, he's a priest.

What a priest do they instruct people in the promises of God.

They instruct people in terms of how to know their God.

But if the priest doubts the promises of God, the people will

doubt the promises of God. So God said, you can't speak,

you can't hear for nine months because what you're going to do

is you're going to focus in on the promises that I've given

you. So you know this because you

when you read Zacharias's song, it's all about the praise of Old

Testament promises. He is now praising God because

the promises on how the sunrise will rise now that the Messiah

is coming, the light to the revelation, the light of

revelation to the Gentiles is now dawning on the people in

this country. God is doing the work.

He's fulfilling His promises, but God put him in isolation to

focus in on the promises because he could not afford to continue

to deny the certainty and the reliability of the promises of

God. You see, we forget that when God

makes a promise, He keeps it. So God says, you know that all

things work together for good to those who love God and are

called according to His purpose. The promise is this, that no

matter what has happened in your life, good or bad, God is

bringing them all together to bring about ultimately you're

good and His glory. That's a promise.

Now, in the midst of certain situations, we don't understand

the goodness that's there. It's like at Christmas time when

you begin to bake cookies, right?

And you get all the ingredients out to bake the cookies.

Tasting each ingredient by itself may or may not taste

good. For instance, if you take the

sugar, you taste it, it's sweet, it's good.

You take the cinnamon, you taste it, it's sweet, It's good.

If you take the dough by itself before it's cooked and tasted,

not so good. If you take the flour and you

put in your mouth, not so good. But when it's all been baked in

the oven and it comes out, it tastes all so good.

Why? Because once you put all the

ingredients together, you realize that what comes out is

something that's good and tasteful.

God is in the process of baking cookies in your life.

He's in the process of taking everything that's good,

everything that's bad. Put it together so that because

you've been called according to His purposes, these things will

work out together for your good. Because God will be glorified.

That's what God's doing. That's the promises of God.

Listen to what Peter says in first Peter chapter chapter 5

verse #10 he says the God of all grace, who called you to his

eternal glory will himself. OK, Now remember he says in

verse early in verse 10, after you've suffered for a little

while, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory

in Christ will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and

establish you to Him be dominion forever and ever.

Amen. God is going to allow you to

suffer for a little while, not forever, but for a little while.

And what God is going to do is that He is going to absolutely

perfect you. And it is tie all the loose ends

together, bring that which is lacking into your life so your

life will be fulfilled. He's going to perfect you and

then He's going to confirm you or establish you.

He's going to make you a solid as granite.

And then on top of that, He is going to strengthen you.

He's going to feel you with strength and then He's going to

settle you. He's going to lay a firm

foundation in your life. That's the promise that God

gives after you've suffered for a little while, not forever, but

for a little while, God is doing something that's going to

perfect, establish, confirm, and settle you so that you become

the person God wants you to be. That's a promise that God has

given. That's what God's doing.

You might not see it today. You may not see it tomorrow, but

all those things are going to work together for good because

you love God. They're called according to His

purpose. And so He's going to establish

you, strengthen you, confirm you, restore you, make you to

the kind of person that He wants you to be for His glory and for

His honor. That's a promise that God gives.

He says in John 14, My peace I give unto you, not as the world

gives give unto you, but My peace I give unto you.

I'm going to give you my peace in, in, in John 1511, He says,

I've spoken these things unto you that your joy may be made

full because I want you to experience my joy.

Christ says, and so I'm going to promise you joy.

I'm going to give you my joy. I'm going to promise you peace.

I'm going to give you my peace. I'm going to promise you comfort

because I'm going to give you another comforter, one that will

be called alongside of you, one that will live inside of you.

All those things are promises by the true and living God.

His promises are undeniable. So I can live a life of

perpetual praise because I know His power is available and His

promises are undeniable. So I can praise Him for what

He's doing and what He's going to do in my life.

He was 13 five. He says I will never leave you,

nor will I ever forsake you. Wow.

No human being can say that. Only the living God can say

that. Only the living God can say I

will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you.

I am here with you forever. So that leads us to our Third

Point. If His power is always

available, His promises are always undeniable.

That means His presence is absolutely unavoidable.

His presence is unavoidable. There's no place you can go

that's outside of God's presence.

And because His presence is unavoidable, perpetual praise

can happen because it all depends on the true and living

God. Remember Jonah when he tried to

flee from the Lord's presence? What was he thinking?

They could get on a boat and go the opposite direction, thinking

that God is not on the boat or in the sea or present among him.

We, we, we tend to think that way.

I can hide from God. You can't hide from God.

He's everywhere. He knows everything.

He sees everything. Listen to to Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 23 · chapter mention

23, Jeremiah 23 verse 23 am IA. God who is near declares the

Jeremiah 23:23

Lord. And not a God far off.

Can a man hide himself in hiding places?

So I do not see him, declares the Lord.

Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?

Declares the Lord. He fills everything.

His presence is absolutely unavoidable.

Now again, if you were with us on Christmas Eve, we talked to

you about the very last phrase in the book of Ezekiel.

Very last phrase is Yahweh Shama, the Lord is near.

That's important to the prophecy of Ezekiel because Ezekiel would

see the glory of the Lord depart from the temple.

He would receive this vision of God's presence.

That's why Ichabod was written. The crossed Israel, meaning the

Lord has departed. Why?

Because the glory of the Lord, which is the presence of God

manifested in brilliant light, had departed.

He saw it leave the temple, leave through the eastern gate,

send up the Mount of Olives, and disappear into the Judean

wilderness. Because the presence of God had

had departed from the people of God.

Not. Not that God wasn't there.

It's just that the active movement of God in and among his

people was no longer going to happen.

He was going to leave them in isolation in Babylonian

captivity, but the promise was this that one day the Lord will

be there Yave Shema, the Lord is there, the Lord is present.

The glory of the Lord is going to return.

And so at Christmas time when the glory of the Lord would

shine all around the shepherds that that would mean that the

presence of God was was returning right.

And so John would say, And the Word became flesh and dwelt

among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only

begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John says we beheld the glory of God.

The promise is Yahweh, Shema. The Lord is there.

The Lord came, the Lord has arrived, but Israel did not see

Him as such. In fact, every year Israel

celebrates the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles.

Where they go out in their backyard and they build with

these stats roofs and they live in the backyard or in the

wilderness somewhere somehow for a week so that they can identify

with their forefathers who in the wilderness experience the

presence of the living God and His glory in anticipation of the

time in which God will once again live among them, be

present among them, that the Lord will actually be there

among them. Now they missed it when He came

the first time that they understood that God would be

above them, that the Lord is in the heavens, He does whatever He

pleases. They knew that that that God

would would someday come to dwell with them.

They knew Isaiah 714 that you should call His name Emmanuel,

meaning God with us. They understood that, but they

didn't understand that God would be in us.

That's the fulfillment of Colossians 127, which was a

mystery, a mystery concealing the old, but revealed in the

new. And that is that God would

actually not just dwell among us, He'd actually live on the

inside of us. And the only way he could do

that is because God gave his only begotten Son, and God gave

us his Son so that God could dwell within us.

And if God is in US, God is for us and of God's force, who can

be against us? See that?

And so everything was was about the the unavoidable presence of

the living God, that God is going to dwell in his people.

He's going to walk among his people, and he is going to use

his people for his glory. Therefore, His people will live

a life of perpetual praise because His presence is

absolutely unavoidable. His power is always available

and to understand that His promises are absolutely

undeniable, listen to what Psalm 75 one says.

We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks for your name is

near. That is your nature, your

character, your person. Who you are is near to us.

That that's how you live a life of perpetual praise.

To understand the promises of God, to understand the power of

God, to understand the presence of God enables you to praise his

glorious name. That God is doing great things

in and among us, in and among you and your family.

God is not going to desert you. God is not going to leave you.

God's always going to be present among you.

Why? Because God wants you to lean

completely and totally upon him. He wants you to.

He wants to walk you through those difficult times.

That's why Psalmist said even though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Why? Because thou art with me.

Thy rod and the staff, they comfort me.

David knew that. Do we know that?

So instead of talking about the power of God and singing about

the power of God, how about we show the power of God is always

available in our lives, in our interaction with our family,

with the people at work. They would see that we can, we

can sacrifice on their behalf. We can love on their behalf.

We can demonstrate the peace of God on their behalf.

We can return good for evil on their behalf for the glory of

God. Why?

Because the power of God's available, it's there.

And that his, his promises, His promises are undeniable.

He will fulfill every one of them in your heart.

Because all the promises are yes in Christ Jesus.

And the way you are secure and all that is because His presence

is absolutely unavoidable. You can't get away from the

Lord. You might feel he's far away, or

you might think he's far away, but he is not.

The Lord is near to all those who call upon him.

To all those who call upon him. In truth, God is always, always

there because He's Yahweh. Shema, let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for this chance to

spend a brief moment in the Word of God.

We thank you for the things you've taught us this year.

We anticipate what you'll teach us in the new year and pray that

we take these principles with us that we might live a life of

perpetual praise to the glory and honor of you, our King, in

Jesus name, Amen.