The high praises of God always must be accompanied by the two-edged sword of judgment. When the sword of Divine judgment is not present, the high praises open the soul of the believer in such a manner he becomes vulnerable to immorality.

Prolonged praise can become "sweet." There is a pleasant feeling associated with the worship of God. Sometimes the praise is "honey," and honey is not accepted as an offering made by fire.

No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire. (Leviticus 2:11)

During the worship the Lord looks down and evaluates the personality and behavior of the worshipers. If the Lord does not behold righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God, the worship is of little value. God is not being blessed. The "worshipers" are enjoying themselves "in the name of the Lord" but God is not being blessed.

Righteousness and praise go together. If righteousness is lacking (by righteousness we mean righteous behavior, not righteousness assigned to us because Jesus is righteous), our praise is not accepted.

Praise also is a very important factor in the growth of the believer into a son of God. Like every other aspect of the spiritual life, praise can become a snare if it is not balanced with an uncompromising word of righteousness, judgment, and obedience to the will of God.

We of the Christian churches are ignorant of God's ways. We do not pray nearly enough. In numerous instances we are confusing the realm of the soul and the realm of the Spirit of God. If doctrines and practices such as the word of faith, the prosperity message, manipulating the material realm through visualizing and "imaging," "inner healing," and so forth are accompanied by Jesus' name and appear to get the results we desire, they are accepted. We are not searching the Scriptures to see if these things are of God. We have become experience and "feeling" oriented rather than Word oriented.

As a result, the churches are drying up spiritually. They have a name that they are alive but they are dead in the eyes of God. The emphasis is on large churches as though there were virtue in numbers of people. Yet we know in our heart (or should know in our heart) that large numbers of people are not important in accomplishing the Divine goals; that we must have a daily communion (sharing) with Jesus if we are to overcome sin and follow the Lord; that a righteous and holy life is the only true sign we indeed are being saved.

To be continued.