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, an 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 one that's genuine or superficial? So let me ask you a couple of questions. If you are more concerned about your Christmas tree than Calvary's tree, your celebration is a superficial celebration.

If you're more concerned about the lights on your house instead of the light 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 and 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 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 celebration, a praise, a gratefulness, a thanksgiving to God that's not 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 look at a celebration of the season as something that's passing instead of something that's enduring.

And so I wanna 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 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 gonna 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, 147, 149 and 150, they all begin with the same phrase, praise the Lord.

But Psalm 148 is a unique psalm because 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 first six verses that praise is to be done in the celestial. In verses seven and 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 Him all His angels, praise Him all His 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 in 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. Verse 7, 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 in 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 winged fowl. Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes 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. It 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 43:21, 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 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 number 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 104, 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 gotta 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 gonna give them to you this week and next week.

Number one 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 gonna ask you to do something and say, well, I hope you work it out. I hope you can get your act together.

I hope this is gonna 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. 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 62, 11 says that power belongs to God. He is called El Shaddai, the almighty God.

In fact, the Bible says in Job 9, verse number 19, if it is a matter of power, behold, God is the strong one. Revelation 19:6 says, hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. God is all powerful, but sometimes I think 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 live in the realm of “I can't”.

My mom used to always say, “can't” died, “could” buried him. Did your mom used to say that? Some of them used to always say, mom, I can't do that. She says, “can't” died and “could” buried him. In other words, you can do it, you just don't want to do it.

You choose not to do it. We say, 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 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 don't understand the power of God. So God says to his men, he says in Acts chapter 1, verse number 8, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you shall receive power, power, and you shall be my witnesses. You're gonna receive something, and then you're going to become something.

You're gonna become what I need you to be, because the power that I'm gonna 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 2 Timothy 1, verse number 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 a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.

He gives you 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 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. We live as if God doesn't even exist.

We live as practical atheists, 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 in chapter 1, verse number 18, I 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 prayer, Paul says, for you in Ephesus, is that somehow your eyes will be open to the greatness, the surpassing greatness of the power of God. And if you go over to chapter 3 of Ephesians, he says it this way, verse 20, now to him who is 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 it. 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 2 Chronicles 16:9 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's what salvation is all about. That is what the new covenant promise is all about.

Listen to the words in Ezekiel 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 gonna cause you to obey me.

I'm gonna cause you to follow me. 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 saying, 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 never wearies, he never tires. God 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.

God is power. And so power is who he is. He is 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 through the power of the spirit of God that lives within you. So principle number one is that his power is always available.

Principle number two is this. His promises are always undeniable. His promises are always undeniable.

Or you could 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 promises are undeniable.

Second Corinthians 1:20. 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 fulfillment of all promises.

That's why we encourage you throughout the Christmas season to at least get a copy of the book, The Christ of Christmas. 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 109, 25 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 Christmas Eve, we talked about celebrating the light. And we looked at nine different characters that would help you understand how to celebrate the light, 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 do priests do? They instruct people in the promises of God. They instruct people in terms of how to know their God. But if a 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 gonna do is you're gonna focus in on the promises that I've given to you. So you know this because when you read Zacharias' song, it's all about the praise of Old Testament promises. He is now praising God because of the promises on how the sunrise will rise now that the Messiah is coming.

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 your 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 it in your mouth, not so good. But when it's all been baked in the oven and it comes out, it tastes oh 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, putting 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 1 Peter chapter 5, verse number 10.

He says, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory will himself, okay? Now remember, he says, early in verse 10, after you have 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 gonna 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 gonna absolutely perfect you. That is, tie all the loose ends together. Bring that which is lacking into your life so your life will be fulfilled.

He's gonna perfect you. And then he's going to confirm you or establish you. He's gonna make you as solid as granite.

And then, on top of that, he is going to strengthen you. He's gonna fill you with strength. And then he's going to settle you.

He's gonna lay a firm foundation in your life. That's the promise that God gives. After you have suffered for a little while, not forever, but for a little while, God is doing something that's gonna 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 might not see it tomorrow. But all those things are gonna work together for good because you love God and are called according to his purpose. And so he's gonna establish you, strengthen you, confirm you, restore you, make you into 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 unto you, but my peace I give unto you.

I'm gonna give you my peace. In John 15:11, he says, I have 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 gonna promise you joy.

I'm gonna give you my joy. I'm gonna promise you peace. I'm gonna give you my peace.

I'm gonna promise you comfort because I'm gonna 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's 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. Hebrews 13:5, 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? That he 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 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 Jeremiah chapter 23.

Jeremiah 23, verse 23. Am I a God who is near, declares the 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.

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 Shammah.

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 across 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 departed from the people of God. Not that God wasn't there. It's just that the active movement of God in and among his people was no longer gonna happen.

He was gonna leave them in isolation in Babylonian captivity. But the promise was this, that one day the Lord will be there, Yahweh Shammah. The Lord is there.

The Lord is present. The glory of the Lord is going to return. And so at Christmastime, when the glory of the Lord would shine all around the shepherds, that would mean that the presence of God 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 Shammah. 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 thatched 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 experienced 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. They understood that God would be above them, that the Lord is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.

They knew that God 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 1:27, which was a mystery, a mystery concealed in 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 if God's for us, who can be against us? See that? And so everything was about the unavoidable presence of the living God, that God is gonna dwell in his people. He's gonna 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 75:1 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'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 gonna be present among you.

Why? Because God wants you to lean completely and totally upon him. He wants to walk you through those difficult times. That's why the Psalmist said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Why? "Cause thou art with me. Thy rod and thy 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 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 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 in 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 Shammah. 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.