The Sacrifice of Praise is a sermon teaching us that we can please God by living a Christian life and sharing the Gospel with others.

Key verses:
Hebrews 13:15-16

I’m going to ask you take your Bible now and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Once again, we’re nearing the end of the chapter, near the end of the book, but probably be in it for at least a couple more Wednesday nights. Hebrews 13, and tonight we’re just going to read verses 15 and 16, and that’s all we’re going to deal with tonight, these two verses. Let’s read it together.

Hebrews 13:15: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Hebrews 13:16: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

I call your attention to that phrase in verse 15, “the sacrifice of praise to God.” I want to talk to you tonight about the sacrifice of praise.

Offerings are a part of our worship. We often talk about monetary offerings. We just talked about giving to missions, but there are other types of offerings that we can and should present to the Lord. So, we’re going to look at that tonight in these two verses, Hebrews 13:15 and 16.

What Is Worship?

Before we get back to the text, I want to talk to you for just a minute about worship. What does the word “worship” mean? Different things may come to your mind when we say worship, but let’s be a little technical. The Hebrew word translated to worship most often in your English Bible means to bow down, to prostrate, to fall down before, or to make obeisance. Now, obeisance means acknowledging the superiority of another. The Greek word translated as “worship” in the New Testament means an act of reverence. An act of reverence means to honor or homage, which means to show respect, to pay tribute, to prostrate oneself before, or I thought this is interesting, to kiss the hand of, also, to acknowledge that one as Lord.

Now, in both cases, the word “prostrate” was used, and prostrate means to lie face down in humility and submission, to lie face down in humility and submission. Now, those are the two words, in Hebrew and Greek, that are translated as “worship” in your Bible. They’re similar in meaning: obedience, reverence, worship, obey, submit, lie down in humility, bow down. Now, when we talk about worship in 21st-century America, that’s not usually what we think about. It’s not usually what you see people doing.

Ways of Worship

The truth is there are different ways in which we can express our worship to God. You can express worship to God through prayer, through listening to or reading God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word or in sacrifice.

In Matthew 26:7 and Mark 14:3 and Luke 7:37, we’re told of a woman who broke open an alabaster box filled with precious ointment and anointed the head of Jesus. Some who were there objected to that because of the cost both of the box itself and of the ointment.

We’re not told that the woman was wealthy. Now, she might have been, but it doesn’t say that in the text. What we are told is she gave an offering that must have cost her a great deal. That I believe was her thought in this offering. She wanted to give to the Lord something that was precious to her, something that really meant something or something that had cost her something.

Do you remember when David wanted to build the temple? The Lord did not let him build the temple. He let Solomon build it. But he chose the site, David chose the site, and it was a threshing floor that was on top of Mount Mariah, the threshing floor of Aruna.

David went to the man, Aruna, who owned that piece of land and told him he wanted to build a house for the Lord there. Aruna said to the king, “You don’t have to buy it if it’s for the Lord, I’ll give it.” And David said this, and don’t miss it, he said, “I will not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing. I will not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing.”

So, this alabaster box of ointment costs this lady a great deal, but there’s a contrast to that in Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:2. We’re told about a widow who cast two mites into the treasury. Now, I used to have a mite, no joking here. I used to have a mite, a tiny coin. I don’t know what became of it, I don’t have it anymore. It was a tiny coin smaller than a dime. and according to something I read today, worth about half a penny. So, two mites would have been worth about one penny, and she put that in. Gospel says:

Luke 21:1: “And he [Jesus] looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.”

Luke 21:2: “And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.”

Luke 21:3: “And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:”

Luke 21:4: “For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”

In other words, they gave out of their riches. She gave all she had. So, the obvious teaching here is it’s not the monetary or material value of the gift but the motivation of the giver that counts most and is most important to the Lord. So, sacrifice is a way to worship the Lord.

Another way to worship the Lord is to surrender to His will, to give self over to the will of God. So, we’ve listed six ways in which to express worship to God: prayer, listening to or reading God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word, sacrifice, and surrender to His will. There are other ways to express worship. These six are some major ways, but they aren’t the only ways.

In many of our modern churches, the definition of worship, at least the primary definition, seems to vary. But a few years ago, right here in our other building, there in the Family Life Center, I was talking to a younger man. We were having a conversation, and I knew he was involved in a church. I asked him what his position was in the church, and he said that he was the worship leader there.

When he said, “I’m the worship leader,” I said, “Is that what we used to call a song leader?” He said that it was, so I asked him, I said, “So, then are you saying that we are only worshiping when we are singing?” and He said, “Yes.”

I think that’s interesting because I think a good many people today would say yes to that question. The part of the service where we’re singing, that’s our worship. I disagree with that. I’ve already given you six other ways in which to worship. Do we worship when we sing? Yes, or we should. It depends on our heart’s attitude. You know, you can sing a song and not really even know what you’re singing. No, you can’t. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Well, why do you say that?

Many years ago, when my son, Michael, who’s in his mid-30s now, when he was, I think, around 11 years old, we were up at Pensacola Christian College, and while we were there, they had visiting there, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the oldest and most famous boys’ choir on the planet. They were going to be singing there that night, and I bought tickets because all three of my sons, at different times, were in the Florida Singing Sons boy choir, which is a traveling choir. Michael was in that choir at that time.

Somebody, I don’t remember who it was, somebody that was there says, “These boys from Vienna, do you think they can sing in English?” I had Michael with me, and I said, “Well, Michael’s in a choir, similar, not as famous, but similar to that one. I said they sing in African languages, they sing in Spanish, German, Italian, and all kinds of languages. I’m pretty sure these boys can sing in English. Now, you know that if you can learn a song in another language, you don’t necessarily know what you’re singing.

When I was much younger, I took Spanish, and in the Spanish class, they taught us to sing “Silent Night” in Spanish. I remember probably the first five words of it, that’s about it. Could I sing it in Spanish today? No. Did I know what all the words meant when we could sing it in Spanish? No, I really didn’t. “Well, you should have, you’re taking the class.” I was taking the class, but I didn’t know what all the words meant. You can sing a song without knowing what the words mean because you’re singing in another language.

But let me help you a little further with that. You can sing a song in your language and still not understand what all the words mean. You’re just kind of singing them because you’re singing along with everybody else. You’re singing what they’re singing. You may not necessarily understand everything you’re saying when you’re singing.

“Well, what happens then? Am I not worshiping?” At that point, whether you understand the words or not is not the determining factor as to whether you were worshiping, it’s what is the attitude of your heart. Are you singing to the Lord? Are you singing just to be singing? Everybody else is singing, I guess I will too. Are you singing for the fun of it? Because you enjoy singing? I’m not saying those motives are wrong, but I’m saying it’s only worship if your singing is truly directed to the Lord. In your heart, in your mind, you’re singing to the Lord.

I think it’s interesting that we sing every Sunday morning. We start out this morning’s service singing the doxology. Did you ever wonder why it’s called doxology? Does anybody ever wonder that? It comes from a Greek word that means worship or praise. It means praise. And what does the song say? “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” That’s why it’s called the doxology. It’s a song of praise.

I’m going to tell you a story. I don’t have it in my notes. I’ve told it here before, but I just like it and I want to hear it again. So, I’m going to tell it to you. I was, many years ago, I was watching “The Tonight Show.” It used to come on after the 11 o’clock news, and the guest on “The Tonight Show,” I don’t remember now who the host was, but the guest was Orel Hershiser. Oral Hershiser, who’s a major league baseball pitcher, had just been the winning pitcher for the World Series.

So, they had him on the show and they were talking to him. They showed a video clip of him sitting in the dugout and the host said to him, he says, “I see your mouth moving in the video there.” He said, “What were you saying?” Orel Hershiser, on “The Tonight Show,” NBC network nationwide television said, “I wasn’t talking, I was singing.”

And the host says, “You were singing?” He said, “Yes.” He says, “What were you singing?” Orel Hershiser said, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

You say, “He didn’t.” He did, he did. I loved it. I thought it was great. There he was singing the doxology on “The Tonight Show.” Isn’t that something? And why was he doing that? Well, I think because that’s what was in his heart. I think he just generally wanted to praise God. So, it was an offering of praise.

The Hallel

Now, in these two verses before us, I believe we are being taught more about worship. Verses 15 and 16 flow out of the preceding passage, beginning at verse 10 and obviously concluding with verse 14. From that passage, we learn that the Lord Jesus is our high priest and our offering for sin. So, verse 15 begins with the words, “By him therefore,” – by Him, by the Lord Jesus, who is our high priest. “By him therefore,” and everything else in these two verses ties back to that first phrase, “By him therefore.”

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,” – now, let me point out a couple of things to you. This sacrifice is supposed to be offered continually, not occasionally, not once a week, or not a few times a week, but continually, and it is a sacrifice now. A sacrifice means you’re giving up something like the widow with her two mites. That was a sacrifice for her to give that, but what is the sacrifice here? It’s not a monetary sacrifice. It’s not even a sacrifice of service. It is the sacrifice of praise.

So, it says, “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.” Now, the word “praise” appears 248 times in our English Bible, and I don’t think it’ll surprise you to learn that of those 248 times almost a hundred times the word “praise” is in the Psalms. That didn’t surprise you, did it? Not if you’ve read the Psalms. Psalms 113 through 118 are called the Hallel, and they are recited as a prayer during Jewish holy days. They do all of that, all six of those psalms.

“Yeah, well, what are those psalms about?” Well, in Psalm 117, we have a brief summary of what Psalms 113 to 118 are about. Here it is, Psalm 117. I’ll read you the whole Psalm. Oh, good news, so we’re going to be here all night. No, listen, here it is:

Psalm 117:1: “O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.”

Psalm 117:2: “For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.”

That’s it. That’s Psalm 117. That’s all there is to it, two verses. Now, something else. This is called, as I told you, Psalms 113-118 are called the Hallel in Hebrew, and it’s customary to sing it on the holy days. But think about that word, Hallel. Do you ever use that word? You have, and you don’t know it. That is the root of Hallelujah. “Hal” is the root word for Hallelujah. Hal means praise. Hallelujah means praise to Jehovah, praise to God. Now, you’ve said that, haven’t you? Sure, you have.

Praising Attributes of God

So, to praise means to give thanks to and to recognize the attributes of God. What are the attributes of God? Well, they are the characteristics of God or to say it another way, they’re the aspects of God’s character and nature. I’m going to give you a partial list of the attributes of God because if I gave you a complete list, we’d be here for probably three or four weeks. But here’s a partial list of the attributes of God:

Number one, He is the self-existent one. The self-existent one means He is without origin. I don’t know if anybody’s ever asked you this, I’ve been asked many times over the years, when did God start? Where did God begin? Or who made God? And the answer to all those questions is the same. He is the self-existent one. He is.

This is not my wording, but it’s good wording. Listen to it. He is the uncaused cause. Let me say that again: He is the uncaused cause of everything in the universe according to Colossians 1:7. So, number one, He is the self-existent one.

Number two, He is immutable, and that means never changing, Malachi 3:6.

Number three, He is omnipotent, all-powerful, Psalm 33:6.

He is omniscient, all-knowing, Isaiah 49:9-10.

He is omnipresent, all present, Psalm 139.

He is eternal and never-ending, Revelation 11:1.

He is faithful, Deuteronomy 7:9.

He is just, Deuteronomy 32:4.

He is merciful, Psalm 107:1.

He is gracious, Psalm 86:15.

He is loving, John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16, both tell us that.

He is holy, Isaiah 6:1-3 and Revelation 4:8.

Those are just some of the attributes of God. There’s more, but that is enough to tell you that God is praiseworthy. He’s worthy of our praise. He’s worthy of our worship. So, the word “sacrifice,” as it’s used here in Hebrews 13:15, is a synonym for the word “offering.”

Samuel F. Bennett, who lived from 1836 to 1898, wrote the beautiful hymn “In the Sweet By and By.” The third verse of that song illustrates the truth of Hebrews 13:15. I think that’s probably where he got the idea for the hymn. I don’t know, but when we get to Heaven, we’ll ask him. But listen to that third verse of that song and see if it sounds to you like it came from Hebrews 13:15. He wrote, “To our bountiful Father above, we will offer our tribute of praise. For the glorious gift of His love, and the blessings that follow our days.” Sounds to me like what Hebrews 13:15 is saying when it says:

Hebrews 13:15: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

That’s praising God when you’re giving thanks.

Praising His Name

Now, the writer of Hebrews says, “By him,” – by the Lord Jesus, “let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,” – from our heart with our mouth and by our whole life, – “the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name,” – that name which is above every name, Isaiah 45:22 and 23, God says:

Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

Isaiah 45:23: “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”

Philippians 2:9: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:”

Philippians 2:10: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”

Philippians 2:11: “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Hebrews 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

Revelation 5:13: “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”

Revelation 5:14: “And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.”

That’s the sacrifice of praise. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to be praising Him. Yes, with our mouth, but also with our life, with how we live.

Praise Him Through Doing Good

Now, that takes us to verse 16. Praise Him with our daily living. Look at it:

Hebrews 13:16: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Such sacrifices as what? The sacrifice of praise, verse 15, and for us to do good, to communicate, not to forget to do these things. Now, what does he mean when he says to do good? Well, it means to do what’s right and what we know is right.

We often do what is traditional, what is popular, what is convenient, what is cost effective, or simply what we want to do. But that’s not the challenge here. The challenge here is not to do what is traditional, popular, convenient, cost effective, or what we want to do. The challenge here is to do good.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “With malice toward none and charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.” As far as God enables us to see the right, let us do right. That’s what Lincoln was saying.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf said this, “You always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” You think about that. “You always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it,” – choosing to do it and carrying it out.

But here in the Word of God, we are commanded to do good. “But to do good and to communicate forget not.” Now, what do you mean by “communicate”? Communication is important. It’s essential in building any relationship, and that’s talking to each other clearly so that you understand each other.

But that’s not what the word means here. “What’s the word mean here?” The word here means more than speaking clearly to each other. It means to help each other with their needs. Don’t forget to do that. He says this is part of doing good. This is part of living it out. “Well, how am I going to live it out well?” Jesus told us how to live out. He said, “As you would that men should do unto you, do you even also unto them.”

I say this all the time. I’ve said it here so many times that you’re probably tired of hearing it, but we all need to hear it. Treat other people as you want them to treat you, not how they treat you, but the way you want them to treat you. That’s what God tells us to do, and that’s what he’s saying here:

Hebrews 13:16: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Offer the Sacrifice of Praise

God is pleased when we offer the sacrifice of praise to Him. By the way, can I share something with you? I had a fellow tell me one time there’s nothing you can do. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to please God. Okay, nothing you can do that pleases God. Let’s read verses 15 and 16:

Hebrews 13:15: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Hebrews 13:16: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Does that sound to you like you could do anything to please God? It does. Doesn’t it? There are things we do that please God. There are things we do that displease God, but there are definitely things you can do that please God.

What are those things? Doing what He tells us to do pleases Him. When we obey Him, that’s another way of worship, obedience. So, God is pleased when we offer the sacrifice of praise to Him, and God is pleased when we offer the sacrifice of doing what’s right, and God is pleased when we offer the sacrifice of loving our neighbor as ourselves.

So, let’s offer the sacrifice of praise. We should, and we must praise God with our words. Those words need to come from the heart, not just empty words. We can recite something and not think much about what we’re saying. I encourage children when we’re trying to teach them to learn verses. I encourage them to understand what the verse means because you can learn a verse without understanding it. Just as I said earlier, how you can sing a song without understanding it? So, I think it’s important that they not only learn the words of the verse but also learn the meaning of the verse.

Then we should and must praise God by living a life that is a testimony to others of the grace of Jesus Christ whom we serve. Back in the 1970s, there was a debate in many Christian circles between what they called lifestyle evangelism and confrontational evangelism. You don’t hear those terms so much anymore, but we used to. What was the difference? Well, confrontational evangelism was when you went to a person and spoke to them about their soul, their lost condition, and how they need to trust the Savior.

Lifestyle evangelism was you live a good Christian life. And so, you influence other people and they they’ll want to come to Christ. Now, let me tell you the correct view on those two things. It’s not an either-or. You need to do both. It’s both and not either-or. Why? If you are telling people they need to be saved, they’re lost sinners, and they need to be saved, but you’re living like the devil yourself, who’s going to listen to you? There’s a word for that, “hypocrite.”

But on the other hand, if you live a good Christian life, but you never speak a word about the Lord or tell anybody, you know what’s going to happen? People are going to think what a good person you are, but they’re not going to know who it is that makes you that good person. They’re not going to know that it’s not you. They’re not going to know that it’s Jesus.

So, it’s not either or. It’s not whether you speak to people or you just live a good life. You’ve got to do both. You got to say the words and back up the words with your life. So, there really is a false dilemma to say, are we going to have confrontational evangelism or are we going to have lifestyle evangelism? No, you have to have both, and in doing that, we offer the sacrifice of praise to God.

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Let’s go to Him in prayer. Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you for the time we’ve had to study your Word. Now, bless us as we go to a season of prayer. Help us to lift up those requests that have been shared tonight and others that may be on our hearts. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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