APOSTOLIC ACTING OUT
NEVER STOP PRAISING JESUS
Scripture text – Hebrews 13:14-16 – “14For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
In June 2002, I went to an awesome church camp. My favorite service was the Monday night service. Bro. Doug White preached “dance like nobody’s watching.” He was saying forget who’s sitting beside you. Forget about the good-looking guy or girl in front of you; or don’t worry about it if there is a hottie behind you. Don’t worry about it if the preacher sees you. Who cares if your friends are watching? Shout like nobody’s listening. Jump like nobody’s watching. Run like nobody’s watching. Dance like nobody’s watching. Worship like nobody’s watching.
So at the end of Bro. White’s message everybody started worshipping like nobody was watching; except me. I was trying to worship God, but I was not getting through somehow. It was also a combination of me being tired and sleepy from the night before, because I stayed up all night with the guys in the dorm goofing off; being hungry because I had not eaten a meal since I had got there because I did not feel very hungry; I had a crick in an area around my neck, shoulder, and back; my knee that I had injured a few weeks earlier in a minor truck accident was hurting; and I had a headache. All of this was on my mind while I was trying to worship. Then I finally decided to start praying and asking God why I wasn’t getting a blessing like everybody else was, when I was worshipping Him. He told me this, he said, “Because you only praise Me when you want something or when it is church time and everybody else is getting a blessing. If you would praise Me all of the time, then you would get your blessings.”
That hit me like a bomb. I started praying and asking forgiveness for not praising Him like I should. Then all the pain in my body and tiredness started acting up again and I prayed this, I said, “Lord, let me go against this flesh and get rid of all distractions and concentrate on You because my spirit cries out to You. I never want to stop praising You. So, Lord, rebuke my flesh in Jesus’ name, and have your way right now with my spirit because I am crying out to you.” Then, suddenly, His power hit me like I had never felt before. I had become slain in the spirit like never before. I started speaking in tongues like I never had before. Before I knew it, the next thing I remember, I am all the way on the other side of the tabernacle sitting down; which later I found out from someone who saw me, that while I was worshipping, I had walked all the way from where I started, down to the very front, walked across and ended up in the middle of the sixth row on the other side of the building.
After all of that, when I had stopped worshipping, I was in the middle of a choir concert (which was about an hour after service), that I started praising and worshipping God again. Then I saw what I thought was a vision. I saw two roads. The road on the right was going up, and the road on the left was going down. In the middle, where the two roads met, was a mass of fire. From that point on, every time I closed my eyes to worship God in that tabernacle the rest of that week, I saw this vision. I really didn’t know what it meant, but the theme of that church camp was Life Changers. I think that vision had something to do with that because it definitely changed my life after that night.
I said all of that to say this; the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Just like it says in Psalm 22:3 – “3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” So if the Bible says it, then it must be true, because it says in 2 Timothy 3:16 – “16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
So if it is true that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, then this must be true; in Hebrews 12:29 – “29For our God is a consuming fire.” Why do you think the devil is trying so hard to get as many people as he can to be lost? It is because, when it is all over with, and the final day has come, and Judgment Day is past; Lucifer, Satan, the old devil, whatever you want to call him, is going to be cast into the eternal lake of fire and burn forever. Satan does not want to be alone. Satan is afraid of fire, and our God is a consuming fire. Some people think that the devil is already down in hell fire. He is not. He is roaming to and fro in the earth trying to deceive this world. Ever since Jesus died and was buried. While He was buried, He took the keys of death, hell, and the grave. He will give those keys to an angel as it says in Revelation 20:1-3 – “1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Then in Revelation 20:7, 10 – “7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
So the devil does not want to be the only one to be tormented. Just like Bro. White preached on that Tuesday night, we need to fight like hell fights; because hell fights so hard to get so many souls to join Satan when it is time for him to burn.
So what we need to do is ask God to send the fire, the Holy Ghost fire, because that is the fire that the devil fears the most. He knows that if you have that fire inside of you, and if it is burning and you are speaking in tongues continually, then the devil cannot touch you. There was a testimony one elder man testified one Sunday night about his wife, who had just passed away after suffering for over a year with cancer. He said that while she was suffering, that the devil was having a hay day, because one of God’s children was suffering. He said that now she is the one having the hay day because she is in heaven where the devil can’t touch her. That is just one more soul that will not join the devil.
Shout like nobody’s watching? No, after that testimony, shout like the devil is watching and shout as loud as you can and shout in his face!
What we need to do is pray that God will send His fire, and let it spread like wild fire, and never be extinguished; because as long as the fire is burning, the devil will flee because Satan is afraid of fire, especially fire from God. Do you want to send the devil fleeing, or do you want him to be sent trembling and fleeing? Here’s what we need to do; James 2:19 – “19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” There is one Lord, Ephesians 4:5 – “5One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” There is one Lord; the devils are trembling. His name is Jesus; the devils are fleeing.
How are we going to get the fire to come down? Never stop praising Jesus. Webster defines praise like this – to speak of with approval or admiration/ to glorify (God or a deity). I heard that Webster was a Christian, but he must not have been an Apostolic, Pentecostal, tongue talking, holy rolling, victory winning, I’ve got more definitions than that for praise, Christian. Because I’ve got more definitions than that for praise. If I’m gonna praise Jesus, I’m gonna uplift Him. He is the mighty God. Our God is an awesome God. Jesus is the King of Glory. There is nothing negative about praise. There is no such thing as negative praise. A negative praise is known as an insult. So if you are praising just because someone told you to, or because you think that is what you have to do, or you are praising with a negative attitude, then all you are doing is insulting because that is negative praise.
So like it says in Hebrews 13:14-16 - “14For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” In Psalm 113:3 – “3From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.” In Psalm 34:1 –“1I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
We need to praise God continually. What does continually mean? Continual – occurring frequently; often repeated/ continuous, unbroken. It means it never stops. Never stop praising Jesus. If you have breath, praise the Lord. If you don’t believe me, look it up in Psalm 150:6 – “6Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”
So do like it says in Psalm 150:2 – “2Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.” Praise Jesus for waking you up this morning. Praise Jesus for letting you have food, clothing, and shelter. Praise Jesus for giving you the Holy Ghost if you have it, and if you don’t have it, if you continually praise Jesus, He will give you the Holy Ghost as a gift in appreciation of your praise. Praise Jesus for giving you breath so you can praise Him. Even the angels cry out to Him in praise. What is the devil? He’s just a fallen angel. Even Satan is not excluded from praising Jesus. He did it at one time.
Does this place want revival? Revival is at camps, conferences, congresses, and other countries. There should be revival at every church. Revival is already here; all we have to do is bring it down by praising Jesus continually. God is omnipresent. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is the same at camps as he is here. God is the same in Missouri. God is the same in Arkansas. God is the same in Indiana. God is the same God in Canada, in Mexico, in Israel, in Afghanistan, Iraq, on the moon, on the sun, on the North Star, on the Big Dipper, on Venus, on Mars, on Neptune, on Pluto. God’s Spirit is the same from one side of the universe to the other. That’s probably because He is such a great God that He holds the universe between His finger and thumb. Psalm 139:8 – “8If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” Someone once asked what would happen if God came back and nobody was on the planet Earth because we were on a different planet like Mars; would he still come to get us then? I believe that according to God, the universe is named the earth to God. So, yes no matter where you are in the universe, God will come back for you, whether your destination is heaven or hell.
Our God is everywhere. All we have to do is seek Him and find Him. Like Jesus says in Matthew 7:7 – “7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” So if we ask for revival, we shall receive it in Jesus’ name. Just remember never stop praising Jesus. Like it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “17Pray without ceasing.” That includes praise and worship while we pray. So we also need to praise without ceasing. Never stop praising Jesus Christ, our Lord God and Saviour. If we don’t have the Holy Ghost, if we ask for it, we shall receive it in Jesus’ name, as long as we are continually praising Him for what He is going to do, before He even does it. So if we praise Him for giving us the Holy Ghost before we receive it, then that is the faith that we need that will please Him even more, and He will be more willing to give us His precious Holy Ghost.
In June 2002, I went to an awesome church camp. My favorite service was the Monday night service. Bro. Doug White preached “dance like nobody’s watching.” He was saying forget who’s sitting beside you. Forget about the good-looking guy or girl in front of you; or don’t worry about it if there is a hottie behind you. Don’t worry about it if the preacher sees you. Who cares if your friends are watching? Shout like nobody’s listening. Jump like nobody’s watching. Run like nobody’s watching. Dance like nobody’s watching. Worship like nobody’s watching.
So at the end of Bro. White’s message everybody started worshipping like nobody was watching; except me. I was trying to worship God, but I was not getting through somehow. It was also a combination of me being tired and sleepy from the night before, because I stayed up all night with the guys in the dorm goofing off; being hungry because I had not eaten a meal since I had got there because I did not feel very hungry; I had a crick in an area around my neck, shoulder, and back; my knee that I had injured a few weeks earlier in a minor truck accident was hurting; and I had a headache. All of this was on my mind while I was trying to worship. Then I finally decided to start praying and asking God why I wasn’t getting a blessing like everybody else was, when I was worshipping Him. He told me this, he said, “Because you only praise Me when you want something or when it is church time and everybody else is getting a blessing. If you would praise Me all of the time, then you would get your blessings.”
That hit me like a bomb. I started praying and asking forgiveness for not praising Him like I should. Then all the pain in my body and tiredness started acting up again and I prayed this, I said, “Lord, let me go against this flesh and get rid of all distractions and concentrate on You because my spirit cries out to You. I never want to stop praising You. So, Lord, rebuke my flesh in Jesus’ name, and have your way right now with my spirit because I am crying out to you.” Then, suddenly, His power hit me like I had never felt before. I had become slain in the spirit like never before. I started speaking in tongues like I never had before. Before I knew it, the next thing I remember, I am all the way on the other side of the tabernacle sitting down; which later I found out from someone who saw me, that while I was worshipping, I had walked all the way from where I started, down to the very front, walked across and ended up in the middle of the sixth row on the other side of the building.
After all of that, when I had stopped worshipping, I was in the middle of a choir concert (which was about an hour after service), that I started praising and worshipping God again. Then I saw what I thought was a vision. I saw two roads. The road on the right was going up, and the road on the left was going down. In the middle, where the two roads met, was a mass of fire. From that point on, every time I closed my eyes to worship God in that tabernacle the rest of that week, I saw this vision. I really didn’t know what it meant, but the theme of that church camp was Life Changers. I think that vision had something to do with that because it definitely changed my life after that night.
I said all of that to say this; the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Just like it says in Psalm 22:3 – “3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” So if the Bible says it, then it must be true, because it says in 2 Timothy 3:16 – “16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
So if it is true that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, then this must be true; in Hebrews 12:29 – “29For our God is a consuming fire.” Why do you think the devil is trying so hard to get as many people as he can to be lost? It is because, when it is all over with, and the final day has come, and Judgment Day is past; Lucifer, Satan, the old devil, whatever you want to call him, is going to be cast into the eternal lake of fire and burn forever. Satan does not want to be alone. Satan is afraid of fire, and our God is a consuming fire. Some people think that the devil is already down in hell fire. He is not. He is roaming to and fro in the earth trying to deceive this world. Ever since Jesus died and was buried. While He was buried, He took the keys of death, hell, and the grave. He will give those keys to an angel as it says in Revelation 20:1-3 – “1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Then in Revelation 20:7, 10 – “7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
So the devil does not want to be the only one to be tormented. Just like Bro. White preached on that Tuesday night, we need to fight like hell fights; because hell fights so hard to get so many souls to join Satan when it is time for him to burn.
So what we need to do is ask God to send the fire, the Holy Ghost fire, because that is the fire that the devil fears the most. He knows that if you have that fire inside of you, and if it is burning and you are speaking in tongues continually, then the devil cannot touch you. There was a testimony one elder man testified one Sunday night about his wife, who had just passed away after suffering for over a year with cancer. He said that while she was suffering, that the devil was having a hay day, because one of God’s children was suffering. He said that now she is the one having the hay day because she is in heaven where the devil can’t touch her. That is just one more soul that will not join the devil.
Shout like nobody’s watching? No, after that testimony, shout like the devil is watching and shout as loud as you can and shout in his face!
What we need to do is pray that God will send His fire, and let it spread like wild fire, and never be extinguished; because as long as the fire is burning, the devil will flee because Satan is afraid of fire, especially fire from God. Do you want to send the devil fleeing, or do you want him to be sent trembling and fleeing? Here’s what we need to do; James 2:19 – “19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” There is one Lord, Ephesians 4:5 – “5One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” There is one Lord; the devils are trembling. His name is Jesus; the devils are fleeing.
How are we going to get the fire to come down? Never stop praising Jesus. Webster defines praise like this – to speak of with approval or admiration/ to glorify (God or a deity). I heard that Webster was a Christian, but he must not have been an Apostolic, Pentecostal, tongue talking, holy rolling, victory winning, I’ve got more definitions than that for praise, Christian. Because I’ve got more definitions than that for praise. If I’m gonna praise Jesus, I’m gonna uplift Him. He is the mighty God. Our God is an awesome God. Jesus is the King of Glory. There is nothing negative about praise. There is no such thing as negative praise. A negative praise is known as an insult. So if you are praising just because someone told you to, or because you think that is what you have to do, or you are praising with a negative attitude, then all you are doing is insulting because that is negative praise.
So like it says in Hebrews 13:14-16 - “14For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” In Psalm 113:3 – “3From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.” In Psalm 34:1 –“1I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
We need to praise God continually. What does continually mean? Continual – occurring frequently; often repeated/ continuous, unbroken. It means it never stops. Never stop praising Jesus. If you have breath, praise the Lord. If you don’t believe me, look it up in Psalm 150:6 – “6Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”
So do like it says in Psalm 150:2 – “2Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.” Praise Jesus for waking you up this morning. Praise Jesus for letting you have food, clothing, and shelter. Praise Jesus for giving you the Holy Ghost if you have it, and if you don’t have it, if you continually praise Jesus, He will give you the Holy Ghost as a gift in appreciation of your praise. Praise Jesus for giving you breath so you can praise Him. Even the angels cry out to Him in praise. What is the devil? He’s just a fallen angel. Even Satan is not excluded from praising Jesus. He did it at one time.
Does this place want revival? Revival is at camps, conferences, congresses, and other countries. There should be revival at every church. Revival is already here; all we have to do is bring it down by praising Jesus continually. God is omnipresent. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is the same at camps as he is here. God is the same in Missouri. God is the same in Arkansas. God is the same in Indiana. God is the same God in Canada, in Mexico, in Israel, in Afghanistan, Iraq, on the moon, on the sun, on the North Star, on the Big Dipper, on Venus, on Mars, on Neptune, on Pluto. God’s Spirit is the same from one side of the universe to the other. That’s probably because He is such a great God that He holds the universe between His finger and thumb. Psalm 139:8 – “8If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” Someone once asked what would happen if God came back and nobody was on the planet Earth because we were on a different planet like Mars; would he still come to get us then? I believe that according to God, the universe is named the earth to God. So, yes no matter where you are in the universe, God will come back for you, whether your destination is heaven or hell.
Our God is everywhere. All we have to do is seek Him and find Him. Like Jesus says in Matthew 7:7 – “7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” So if we ask for revival, we shall receive it in Jesus’ name. Just remember never stop praising Jesus. Like it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “17Pray without ceasing.” That includes praise and worship while we pray. So we also need to praise without ceasing. Never stop praising Jesus Christ, our Lord God and Saviour. If we don’t have the Holy Ghost, if we ask for it, we shall receive it in Jesus’ name, as long as we are continually praising Him for what He is going to do, before He even does it. So if we praise Him for giving us the Holy Ghost before we receive it, then that is the faith that we need that will please Him even more, and He will be more willing to give us His precious Holy Ghost.
