Encouragement to Praise — Hans R. Waldvogel

The Liberating Power of Praise

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye land. One thing we ought to be thankful for this morning is that we can do that. That isn't permitted everywhere. Been in places, in large churches where you weren't allowed to say, Hallelujah from the heart.

If you did, the preacher would jump down your throat immediately and gag you. But this morning, Hallelujah. Glory to God. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Glory to God. It isn't only because it's God's do that we should praise Him,.

But there's wonderful liberating power in it. Have you ever discovered it? There are deliverances wrought when you praise the Lord because God inhabits the praises of His people. That's why we read in Psalm 103, All that is within me, bless His holy name.

And until you've been fully liberated, you can't very well do that. There are all kinds of bugs crawling around in these temples of ours until the Holy Ghost comes in and blows them out. I often have to smile when we have a real outpouring of the Spirit of God and everybody gets drenched and everybody gets drowned and drunk and everybody laughs.

My, how I have roared sometimes when the Holy Ghost took possession of me. And then to look around and see some folks get mad. Why, the madder you get, the worse it is. My mother used to say if anything radical happened, my goodness, if that isn't good for the bed bugs.

It takes a real antidote, a real medicine. But, oh beloved, it's good for everything. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. We heard last night how David says in a place, All my bones shall stay.

All my bones. It takes a sanctified being to really praise the Lord. God says He's looking for those that worship Him in spirit and in truth. And that's why He has purchased these bodies of ours to set ablaze every atom of your being.

This body that has inherited sin and bondage and death from our father Adam, now becomes an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ and a temple of the Holy Ghost. Praise the Lord. But let me read this psalm, it's 100.

Psalm 100 and the Call to Joyful Worship

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. All ye lands. We used to think that to sing unto the Lord you had to use a minor key. That's why a lot of church hymns are written in a minor key. You know, the stuff that makes you weep and sigh and sob and sniff.

And people think that's religion. Isn't it wonderful how intended cause we have? Hallelujah. A joyful noise. And to drink freely until you fill to the overflowing and rivers of living water flow from within you.

Lo, I am not looking for worthiness in you nor for strength nor for righteousness but I'm looking for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And my declaration is that they shall be filled and so I call every one of you, come out from among them and be separate and turn ye unto me behold I will pour out my spirit unto you and even this day when so many have gone astray the heavens are open and the power of God is descending and my spirit is searching to and fro among men to fill to the overflowing sons and daughters of mine to sanctify them wholly and to prepare them for the marriage feast of the Lamb.

For me and again I tell you.

Let's all open our books to number 407. 407. Read together this beautiful psalm. I will read the first verse and then all of us join in the second and so on. And let us all join in and trust God to do something for our hearts while we speak his word of faith.

Reading Psalm 103: Remembering God's Benefits

Let the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Let the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgive us all thine iniquities. Who heal us all thy diseases who redeem us thy life from destruction.

Who crown thee with loving kindness and tender mercy. Who satisfies thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment.

For all that are oppressed.

He may throw his ways unto Moses his acts unto the children of Israel the Lord is merciful and gracious.

Low to anger, hallelujah he will not always chide.

Neither will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens is high above the earth so great is his mercy toward them that fear him from the west.

So far has he removed our transgressions from us like as the father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knows our strength he remembers that we are just as for man. His days are as grass as the flower of the field so he flourishes for the wind passes over it and it is gone and the flames thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children.

Such as heed his covenant.

And to those that remember his commandments to do them the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord. Be his angel that excel in strength that do his commandments hearkening unto the voice of his word.

Bless the Lord all ye his hosts ye ministers of his that do his pleasure.

Bless the Lord all his works.

In all places of his dominion bless the Lord praise the Lord. Open to 87 and sing crown him with many crowns. The lamb upon his throne who likes to stand while they sing do so not love I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

Love as the Measure of Spiritual Gifts

I believe in prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and know I have all faith so that I can have not.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not love it profiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long does not behave itself unseemly.

Seeketh not her own is not provoked thinketh no evil that word easily was put in there to ease the conscience of James the 11th doesn't belong in there.

Love is not provoked it doesn't get mad at all. All right. 6 enjoyeth not the dominion beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part when I was a child I spake as a child. I understood as a child I thought as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things and now abide of faith, hope, love these three but the greatest of these is love.

When Mr. Zeller was in Germany he was asked to preach in his home church in the reformed or evangelical church and he spoke about 1 Corinthians 12 13 and 14. They are people who constantly harp on the 13th chapter you see because they have no gifts they don't believe in Pentecost.

So he got up and he said well here's a sandwich. The 12th and the 14th are the pieces of bread and the meat is in between. It's the 13th chapter. And he gave them a very good lesson anyway they enjoyed it and asked him to come again.

Tongues, Spiritual Gifts, and the Source of Love

And this is the sandwich. Now the fact that Bible here says though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels I suppose all of us have spoken that way. When we speak in tongues people don't understand.

Many people don't understand why tongues are given. Sometimes we have spoken in tongues that were understood. Just before I left for Germany last summer there was a missionary here from India and I noticed he got awfully happy all at once.

And after the meeting I found out that he had heard me speak in tongues and it was his language in India. And that made him so happy. He said he didn't know there was anything like that. Another time in Zion in the faith home after the meeting a missionary from Africa came to me and he said hey you got to come with me to Africa because you spoke in my dialect.

Tonight you were praying for the native in tongues. Another time a Methodist preacher was over in Seneca Avenue and he was not very friendly to us but he understood me talking in Greek. But many times you don't understand me and many times you I speak in a language that's not understood on earth.

And we ought to be very careful. Sometimes people come and they say oh you speak in Italian because maybe you use the word that sounds Italian. You can't always go by that. You know when during the boxer trouble people, armies were drawn from all the nations.

Some Swiss fellows were in China and in the morning they got up and one said Shang Shan Du Shao Sun Jin Cho. That's a good Swiss word and it means John get up the sun is shining. And of course the English thought he was talking Chinese.

They said look at those Swiss you can't beat them. They've only been here overnight and now they talk Chinese. Well some of those words are Chinese. But he didn't mean it that way at all. But anyway it's a great miracle to speak with the tongues of men and of angels.

But God says it's a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal unless it flows from the fountain. And that fountain is God. My when you read this chapter everyone might say my how far short I come. That's not the way to look at it.

Look at it like why. Hallelujah I've got something here. I didn't know it was there. Here's the description of it. Praise the Lord. The real thing is there. Christ is there. Give him a chance. This is the direction.

Scripture as the Believer's Guide to Christ's Provision

Hallelujah. You got a new washing machine. You don't know how to operate it till you read the direction and you'll find that when you plug it in and you turn the crank and you turn this switch it'll just work by itself.

And you put the dirty wash in there and there it's hanging on the line whiter than it was when it was new. Why. That wash machine was made for that purpose. And listen Christ is made of God unto us righteousness sanctification and redemption.

And the New Testament is given to us that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. And when I come short it's because I exercise flesh. I don't walk in the spirit. Oh give God a chance.

And that's what the Bible is for. Meditate therein day and night and it'll create faith. It'll give its power. It'll slay the flesh it'll break forth like a fountain of living water. And every one of us has this fountain in them.

Seeking the Real Work of God

Jesus says gold tried in the fire. I believe I told some months ago of an expedition in South Africa the natives had a habit of worshipping on a certain night when the moon was in a certain place in the sky they saw somewhere else a glow in the sky and they said that was a ghost that was a spirit.

And so the natives would gather and they would worship that glow. But these Britishers always after money they said I know what that is. There's a diamond there somewhere on the surface. So they took a cart and they went in search of the diamond next day.

And really they found a great big rock transparent never saw a big diamond like that. So they dug it out and put it on the cart and took it to Johannesburg to a jeweler to examine it. See how much carat it was.

Well this jeweler laughed. He says lick it. It's rock salt. You can lick a lot of religion a lot of sanctification a lot of holiness. It's nothing but salt. It melts. They were fooled. Oh it's a strange thing how people are satisfied to fool themselves.

Examining Ourselves by the Word and Walking in Love

And that's why God gives us the Bible so that you may have the real thing. You take this word and examine yourself by every sentence and see whether you live like that. If not why. That's just rock salt.

That isn't. That isn't love. Love suffers long and is kind. You know how we are naturally when things don't go our way. We go into a dump let people feel it. Why. That's flesh. But love isn't like that.

Love is always even it's the same. I knew a young fellow who never testified except when his girl was there in a meeting the boy could preach like a house of fire. Sometimes two or three times in a meeting I knew what was the matter with my eyes closed that gave him an inspiration.

Strange where people get their inspiration from. But when the love of God is ruler in your heart when the love of God. Then you do all things for the love of God. You do it by the love of God. Oh love praise the Lord.

Persevering Until the Genuine Is Found

Well these Britishers they didn't give up. They went again and they found the real diamond. It was there that glow was still in the sky. And they found it because they were not satisfied with rock salt.

They wanted a pure diamond. You and I don't have to be satisfied with anything short of the love of God described here. It's yours. It's mine. Thank God. You're saved by grace. It's the gift of God. You'll never have salvation by working it up yourself.

But you have salvation by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and giving him a chance. And we do that when we love his commands. He says if you love me you'll keep my words. You can't keep his words without knowing it.

You gotta meditate therein get acquainted with it read the directions. And then Jesus says I'll manifest myself to you. I'll show you that. That's me. Search the scriptures. You'll think you have eternal life.

Why they testify of me. That's the New Testament glory to God.