Praise Jesus
My friends and I just finished singing hymns. Why do we sing hymns? Because we love to praise Jesus. We praise Him in private and we praise Jesus in public. We love Him because He first loved us. We praise Him! We praise our Lord and Savior! We gladly praise Jesus!
But I’ve noticed that people who haven’t surrendered their lives to Jesus don’t praise Him. Not only do they not praise Him, they don’t like it when others praise Him. They don’t like it when we praise Jesus in public. Do you join us in praising Jesus tonight or does it make you angry? Which one are you? It’s one or the other. You can’t be neutral about Jesus. He said that you are either for Him or against Him. Which is it? Do you join us in praising Jesus or does it make you mad?
We praise Jesus because He is worthy of all of our praise. He is our Rock. He is our Fortress. He is our Strong Tower. He is our all in all. He gave His life for guilty sinners who repent and put their faith in Him. He paid the sin debt that He did not owe. He took the punishment that we deserve. He suffered God’s anger over our sins while He, the sinless Son of God was nailed to the old rugged cross. He suffered, bled and died for crimes that He did not commit.
We praise Jesus because the story doesn’t end there. No, He died on that cross, but the grave could not hold Him. Death could not keep Him. Jesus rose victoriously from the grave. He defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. Now that’s something to shout about! That’s something to get excited about. That’s something to praise Him about.
My Redeemer lives! Jesus is alive. Up from the grave He arose! God offers eternal life to each and every person who repents and surrenders their life to Jesus. Oh, have you done this? Sir or madam, have you turned from your sins and turned to the risen Savior? Have you been saved? Are you born-again?
If you are truly a follower of Jesus, then come on over here and join us in praising Jesus tonight. We praise You Lord because you are worthy of all praise, honor and glory. O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest (Psalm 95:1-11).
Oh, do you join us in praising our mighty Savior tonight? Do you praise Jesus? Do you make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation? Jesus is the Rock. And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? (Luke 20:17) Jesus is the cornerstone. He is the Rock of our salvation. He also said And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder (Matthew 21:44).
Again, there is no middle ground. Either you fall broken on Jesus – on the Rock or the Rock – Jesus will grind you to powder. It’s one or the other. Either you recognize that you are a sinner and God is Holy and you surrender your life to Jesus or your die in your sins as an unrepentant sinner and suffer the torments of Hell forever. It’s one or the other. There is no purgatory. There is no “I’ll just ignore it and it will go away.” It’s Heaven or Hell. It’s everlasting life or eternal damnation. You will either praise Jesus for all of eternity in Heaven or you will curse Him for all of eternity in Hell.
Thanksgiving
Those of us who are saved come to our Lord and Savior with thanksgiving. We know that we deserve eternal punishment over our sins. We know and acknowledge that we have rebelled against God. We admit that we are sinners and that there’s nothing that we could do to save ourselves. We confess our sins and fall broke on the Rock, on Jesus. Precious Jesus.
We have been gloriously saved and because we have received everlasting life, we are eternally grateful. That’s why we look forward to praising Jesus. We praise Jesus now and we will praise Him forever. We are grateful that Jesus took the punishment that we deserved. We are thankful that Jesus came to set us free from our bondage to sin. We are thankful that Jesus saved us and we willingly praise Him.
Oh, does this describe you tonight? Unrepentant sinners do not praise Jesus. They aren’t grateful and they haven’t admitted that they are sinners. They haven’t confessed and forsaken their sins. Which one are you? Do you love Jesus or do you hate Him? If you say that you love Him, do you show your love by your actions? Or do you confess Him with your lips while your heart is far from Him? Oh, are you saved tonight?
Do you praise our Lord and Savior or do you mock Him? Are you filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory or are you filled with doubts, fears and unbelief? Have you surrendered your life to Jesus? Have you submitted to His Lordship? Or are you still fighting against Him?
James 4:4 states: Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Are you a friend of Jesus or are you His enemy? Have you made yourself His enemy by your rebellion against God? Are you saved or are you still lost? It’s one or the other. You are either on the narrow road of salvation or you are still staggering around on the broad road to destruction. You can’t be in two places at once.
Do you praise Jesus? Do you worship Him? Do you worship and praise the King of kings and the Lord of lords? No? Then you are not saved. You have never been born-again. What makes you think that you want to be in Heaven praising Jesus for all of eternity if you don’t even want to praise Him now? Heaven wouldn’t really be Heaven to you if you had to spend eternity there with Jesus, praising Him forever more. But to those of us who are saved, we do praise Jesus now and we will praise Him forever and ever.
We praise Him! As Fanny Crosby said: Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died. He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation, Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified. Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows, Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong. Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness; Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song! Do you want to sing this great old hymn Praise Him! Praise Him!? If not, you are not saved. You need to repent and surrender your life to Jesus.
Do Not Harden Your Heart
Do not harden your heart tonight. The glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ draws you to our Lord and Savior or the words of truth makes you more set in your sinful, rebellious ways. Which is it tonight? Is God calling you through the Holy Spirit tonight? Is God convicting you tonight over your sinfulness and revealing His Holiness to you? Do not harden your heart. Don’t grit your teeth spewing forth hatred to God. Stop mocking God tonight. Submit to the Lord Jesus.
If you continue in your rebellion against God, if you continue resisting the Holy Spirit, if you continue hardening your heart; you will not enter into the rest that the Lord offers. You can never have lasting peace without the Prince of peace. The artist formerly known as Prince was not a real Prince and he sure wasn’t the Prince of Peace. If he died without submitting to Jesus then he knows without a doubt that there is no peace in Hell. He knows that his rebellion against the God of the Bible will cost him for all of eternity.
Know peace. Know Jesus. Without Jesus, there is no peace. Come to King Jesus tonight. Come to the great Shepherd. His sheep hear His voice. Do you hear Him calling? Are you tired of rebelling against God? Are you tired of committing the same old mistakes and suffering the same old consequences? Are you tired of making a mess of your life? Are you tired of the lies, false promises, hangovers, people cheating you and stealing from you? Are you tired of being Satan’s whipping boy? Are you tired of the devil dragging you around by your nose? Are you tired of being bound to Satan? Are you tired of being bound to your sins?
If so, turn from your sins tonight. Confess and forsake your sins. Repent and surrender your life to Jesus. Submit to His Lordship. Cry out for God to save you. Give your life to Jesus. Do this tonight. Don’t put it off. You are not guaranteed another day. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus tonight. Find rest in our Lord. Find peace like you’ve never known. You can have peace with God tonight. God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (1 John 5:12).
Receive life tonight. Receive everlasting life tonight and that eternal life is found in Christ alone. Be ye saved tonight. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Call upon Jesus and be saved. Believe on Him. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13). Surrender your life to Him. Then join us in praising Jesus. Praise Jesus tonight. Praise Jesus tomorrow. Praise Jesus forevermore.
(This message was lifted up on the square in downtown Springfield, MO on May 20, 2016)