Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship - Part 5 — Zac Poonen

Praise as Evidence of New Life

That's what I want you to see. Why? Because that is the only way in which you prove that you're a child of God. In the midst of a crooked world. In the midst of a crooked and perverse world where everybody is grumbling, complaining, murmuring.

Here is a person who's not grumbling, murmuring, complaining. Oh, he must be a child of God, right? But if you murmur and grumble and are complaining all the time, you are just like the world around you.

The Foolish Virgins and the Light of Praise

You know, this verse gives me a little light on the virgins whose light, whose lamp died out. They had a lamp in the beginning. The five foolish virgins, their lamp died out because they didn't have any extra oil.

It says here that this is the light you hold up in the world. Verse 15. The world is full of darkness, but here is the light that you hold up where everybody's murmuring, grumbling, complaining, darkness.

You're giving thanks and praising God. That's a light. And when that light dies out, what are you? A foolish virgin. You may be a virgin. Oh, I don't sin. I don't do these wrong things. Maybe, but you're grumbling and complaining.

The light is gone. You need little oil. You need the Holy Spirit's power. And that's what it says here. My brethren, verse 12, work out your salvation from this murmuring and grumbling. And God, verse 13, is at work inside you to give you this desire.

Have you got a desire to give up murmuring and grumbling permanently in your life? God gave it to you. And if God gave you that desire, he'll also give you the power. He'll work in you to will it and to do it.

What? Verse 14. Being free from grumbling and complaining, we have a spirit of praise, a garment of praise all the time in our life. Do you remember that place where Jesus said in the Gospels once when he came into the temple and all the children were shouting praise to God and the long-faced Pharisee said, Lord, tell these people.

I mean, house of God is not a place to shout and praise God, right? That's what he told Jesus. Lord, don't you understand? House of God is a serious place. You must sit like you're attending a funeral and be serious.

Look at these fellows praising God and raising their hands and shouting and saying stop them. Children don't know anything. That was about the one time Jesus was really happy when he saw these children praising God.

You know why? Because Jesus came from heaven where everybody, there was no long-faced angel sitting there in any corner in heaven. Everybody was so happy and praising God and he came to earth. For 33 years, he saw people miserable, grumbling, complaining, long-faced people.

Suddenly he saw some children praising God. He said, hey, that reminds me of heaven. And he said in Matthew 21, he said, haven't you heard this verse 16? When he heard the children praising, he said, haven't you read it?

You guys should know the Bible. Psalm 8, it says, out of the mouths of infants, I have prepared praise for myself. Jesus said, if they keep quiet, even the stones will start praising me. Do you know when you keep quiet?

That's what the Lord says today. You are more dead than the stones in your building. I don't want the Lord to say that to me anytime. That I am more dead than the stones in the building. You think we are alive just because we come to the meetings?

No, sir. You're not alive because you come to the meetings. Do you know that the devil attends every meeting in CFC? How many of you know that? I believe that with all my heart. As long as there's any anointed man standing on this pulpit, the devil will be pretty sure to be there.

One of his demons anyway. The more powerful the anointing, the stronger the demons he sends to the meeting. He's never missed a meeting in CFC as far as I know. What does that prove? That you attended all the meetings.

So what? If you don't have a spirit of praise, you are more dead than the stones in this building. If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. Out of the mouth of it. Now what I want you to see is, you know, when you compare, whenever you read a verse in the New Testament, quote it from the Old Testament, go back to the Old Testament and see what it says there.

Praise as Strength Against the Devil

It says in Psalm 8, this is what it reads, the original. God doesn't show this to lazy people. Most Christians are lazy. They don't study the Bible. But when you go to the Old Testament, it says from the mouth of infants.

He doesn't use the word praise there. Notice that. That's why you get something from scripture. From the mouth of infants, you have established not praise, but strength. Praise is strength. Why? Because of your adversaries to make the devil quiet and to stop him from working.

Do you want to stop the devil from working? Psalm 8 verse 2, compare that with Matthew 21 verse 16. Through praise, you stop the devil from working. There was an old preacher, I forget his name, not sure if it was Billy Bray or one of these evangelists in England years ago, one of these happy people, always praising the Lord.

And somebody tried to tease him saying, what will you do, Billy, if God finally sends you to hell? He said, I will just praise the Lord over there till the devil will say, get out of here, Billy. We don't want anybody here.

You know, I tell you, the devil hates praise. You want to drive the devil out of your home, just start praising God. The devil can't stand before God's throne. You know that. Why does he get so much power in your house, in your life?

Because you don't have a throne and the devil knows you don't have a throne. The infants praise God. Jesus was delighted. I want to show you two verses in Hebrews before we go on. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 12 and 13.

Jesus Leads the Church in Praise

It's very interesting to see that Jesus is the one who leads the praise in the church. Do you know who's the real song leader in the church? Hebrews chapter 2, verse 12. In the midst of the church, I will sing your praise.

This is referring to Jesus. Jesus is the song leader in the midst of the church and every person who leads songs, if he recognizes the real song leader here is Jesus. I'm just sort of an understudy to him.

He can really read worship and praise to God. The other verse is Hebrews 13 and verse 15 where it says, God is very happy with this type of sacrifice. Verse 15. Let us continually, continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

We can praise God in our hearts, but to praise him with our lips is a very, very, very important habit that we have to do continually. How much should our light shine? Continually. I must have a spirit of praise all the time in my life.

I must always be dressed with a garment of praise all the time. I never want to be naked. And it says here, God is pleased, verse 16, with such sacrifices. In Psalm 50, this is a lovely verse, Psalm 50 and verse 23.

Thanksgiving Opens the Way for Deliverance

It says, whoever offers sacrifice of thanksgiving or praise honors me and makes a way, this is a proper translation of it, makes a way thereby for me to show him my deliverance. That means when you start praising God, you open a way for him to deliver you from that difficult situation.

We've seen before how in the, when Jonah was in the whale's belly in Jonah chapter two, he prayed for three days and nothing happened. Then at the end of chapter two, it says he started saying, praising God.

And as soon as he started praising God and saying salvation is from the Lord, the Lord told the whale, vomit him out, spit him out for three days. He tried, tried every other method, didn't work. When he started praising God, the whale didn't want him anymore.