Ephesians 5:18-19
Ep. 95

Ephesians 5:18-19

Episode description

A Verse-by-Verse Expository Sermon on Ephesians 5:18-19 from July 6.

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0:00

you have your Bibles, turn with me to Ephes

0:04

ians chapter 5 verse number 18.

0:09

Let's begin by reading verses 18 and 19.

0:22

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is

0:25

dissipation. But be filled with the Spirit,

0:31

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns

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and spiritual songs, singing and making melody

0:44

with your heart to the Lord. Now, as you know,

0:49

we split verse 18 up into two sermons.

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If you remember, Paul is giving a contrast in

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verse 18, you look at it there, between

1:03

on the one hand being drunk with wine, and on

1:06

the other hand being filled with the Spirit.

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That's the contrast. And last time, we

1:14

considered what being filled with the Spirit

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means.

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And I can't use much time today to go back

1:24

over all that. So if you missed that sermon,

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I highly encourage you to go back and watch it

1:31

online to get a biblical understanding of what

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it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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But I'll give you a little bit of review and

1:39

just remember this from last time. Being

1:42

filled with the Spirit is not where you come

1:46

up here,

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and I tap you on the head, you fall over and

1:48

flop around like a fish on the floor. That's

1:50

not

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being filled with the Spirit. Being filled

1:54

with the Spirit is not speaking in a babbling,

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incoherent way that has nothing to do with a

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known language. Known languages were very

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clear

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and present at Pentecost in that miracle. And

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being filled with the Spirit we learned

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is not even something that we pray for. And I

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've been, I told you, I've been guilty of that.

2:19

Lord, fill us with your Spirit on Sunday

2:20

morning. No, we don't pray to be filled with

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the Spirit.

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Being filled with the Spirit is a command.

2:29

Being filled with the Spirit is something that

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we are

2:34

to be. And we said that being filled with the

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Spirit is a moment by moment by moment

2:44

experience

2:45

for us. And remember in the Greek, it's

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literally be being kept continuously filled

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with the Spirit.

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That's how it reads. And simply put, that

3:00

means when you're filled with the Spirit,

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you are not controlled by you in that moment.

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When you're filled with the Spirit, you're in

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the

3:13

position of being totally yielded in that

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moment to the control of God's Holy Spirit

3:22

over you.

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And remember this, the how to get there. How

44:31

does a Christian get to that point of being

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filled with the Spirit was best given to us in

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a parallel passage in Colossians 3. Here in

3:39

Ephesians

3:40

5, Paul is listing what being filled with the

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Spirit looks like. Look again, verse 19. First

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thing he lists, what is the Spirit being

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filled with the Spirit looks like? Well, first

3:49

of all,

3:49

it looks like speaking to one another in Psal

3:51

ms and hymns and spiritual Psalms. And if you

3:54

have

3:54

your Bibles open, you go on and just glance

3:56

down and see, goes on to give examples for

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wives and

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husbands and children and slaves and masters,

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which is applicable today for bosses and

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employees.

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But interestingly, all of those same examples,

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Psalms, hymns, spiritual Psalms, husbands,

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wise masters, all that stuff, is almost

4:15

exactly the same in Colossians chapter 3 and 4

4:18

,

4:18

even some of the same exact words. But the

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difference is here in Ephesians 5, it starts

4:26

off

4:26

be filled with the Spirit. Look at Colossians

4:28

3.16, how it starts. "Let the Word of Christ

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richly dwell within you with all wisdom." That

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's the key, if you remember what we said.

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That, since these are parallel passages, that

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is parallel with being filled with the Spirit

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from Ephesians 5. So, filling your mind with

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the Word of God is the primary way that we are

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to be

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being kept continuously filled with the Spirit

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. Now, since we started in verse 18 of Ephes

5:10

ians 5,

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I told you that we're going to follow in the

5:13

context of this passage three primary points.

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Number one was the contrast between being

5:20

filled with the Spirit, being drunk with wine

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and being

5:24

filled with the Spirit. We looked at that. And

5:27

if you remember, number two was the command

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itself

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to be filled with the Spirit. And we went into

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detail with that. But I want to add a little

5:36

caveat here, that being filled with the Spirit

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is met with great resistance from our flesh

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and from our adversary. Do you remember, and

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we've said this many times,

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your inner redeemed spirit always, always 24/7

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desires to do that which is right and

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pleasing to God, right? But you're encased in

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this body of flesh. That's what God has ord

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ained.

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And what did Paul say about the flesh in it

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for the Christian even? It dwells what? No

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good thing,

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right? And for example, parallel to this

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passage also, look at Galatians 5.16.

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We get a similar exhortation here, Galatians 5

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.16. Paul says, "But I say, walk by the Spirit

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."

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Remember what that means? Walk the manner of

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living. Walk by the Spirit and you will not

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carry

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out the desire of the flesh. And so what is

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the resistance to doing that? Look at the next

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verse

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in verse 17. "For the flesh sets its desire

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against the Spirit and the Spirit against the

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flesh,

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for these are in opposition to one another so

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that you may not do the things that you please

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,

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so that your inner redeemed spirit may not do

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the things that you please, to please God."

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The flesh, remember, as I just said, is that

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in general can be described as that part of

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our

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unredeemed humanness that we still carry

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around. And it's not just our physical body,

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but also

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including the mind and the will and the

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emotions. And all of those are subject to sin,

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which is also

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where Satan lands with his temptations. I

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remember Brother Moat used to say that the

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flesh is the

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beachhead of sin, and that's where Satan lands

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on the beachhead to tempt us. Now, the way to

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battle

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against this for our own flesh and from our

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adversary is not rocket science. It's actually

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pretty simple. Paul just told us how to battle

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against this. "Walk by the Spirit and you will

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not carry out the desire of the flesh." Now,

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this is not rocket science. Again, if you're

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under the

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control of the Spirit, you're not going to

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have a problem with the flesh in that moment.

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What do I

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mean by that? That means in the moments. Think

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about it. In the moments that you are

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concentrating

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on Christ, whether you're in prayer, whether

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you're in worship like today, whether you're

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reading your Bible, in the moments that you're

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concentrating on Christ, guess what? You can't

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be concentrating on the desires of the flesh

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at the same time, can you? You can't do those

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two

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things at once. By necessity, you have to disp

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el one or the other for one or the other to

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happen.

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Does that make sense to you? And yes, there is

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a war going on there between the two that God

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has

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ordained for the sanctification of all

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Christians as he's using your life and conform

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ing you to the

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image of Christ in your life. But that's not

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our sermon for today. You just got that tidbit

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for

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free, and that will not be used against my

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time, by the way, the tidbit, because we've

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got to move

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on to point three. The consequences. If you

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are filled with the Spirit, what happens in

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your life?

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Well, there's three things that Paul gives us

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next, and this is not an exhaustive list of

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what

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happened because you think about the fruits of

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the Spirit and all the rest of that. This is

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just

9:36

in the context in which he's speaking here. He

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gives us three verses 19, 20, and 21. Number

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one,

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singing. Number two, saying thanks. And number

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three, submitting to one another. Now, for

9:50

today,

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we're only going to look at this first

9:52

consequence of being filled with the Spirit,

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something that we

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just got finished doing. Singing. Look again

10:00

at verse 19. Speaking to one another in songs

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and hymns

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and spiritual songs, singing and making melody

10:11

with your heart to the Lord. Now, we all know

10:16

that

10:17

music dominates our culture. I mean, think

10:20

about it. Music is all around us all the time.

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Send a car,

10:25

send the home. It's on the radio. It's on our

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phones. It's in restaurants. It's in bars

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everywhere.

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It's everywhere. And we all know that music is

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a powerful, emotional stimulator, right? It's

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a gift

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from God. It's even a common grace gift. And

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when you understand that term, common grace,

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it's the grace of God that goes out to all

10:53

people, believers and unbelievers alike as it

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reigns on the just and the unjust. Music is a

10:59

common grace gift to all people to enjoy, for

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all

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people to enjoy. Imagine the world without

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music, right? Music is a great benefit to

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mankind. Think

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about the things it can do. It can quiet a

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troubled soul. Have you ever had that happen?

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It can settle down an anxious heart. Have you

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ever had music do that for you?

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Think about the use of music in our movies

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that we watch. Think about the effect that

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music has in conjunction with the storyline of

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some of the greatest movies you've ever

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watched.

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You can be moved to tears in a movie with the

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addition of the music that goes with it.

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Music is a comfort. It's an encouragement. For

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Saul, it calmed his troubled heart in 1 Samuel

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.

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Music can bring about great joy, right? I have

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great joy when I come here and I'm singing and

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I hear

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you singing these great hymns of the Christian

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faith. Joy unspeakable. Music can be high and

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it

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can be noble. As you know, I love the whole

12:17

time of Christmas and I have little traditions

12:20

. You

12:21

know I have a bunch of those and one of the

12:23

traditions I have at Christmas while I'm

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preparing

12:25

my sermons is I listen to Handel's Messiah.

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That is a high and noble and lofty piece of

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music.

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But unfortunately, in a fallen world, music

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can be low. It can be degrading. It can be

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nasty.

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And really just about anything in between with

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music. And it's very interesting to take note

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of

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the history of music. In this fallen world, as

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it's continued to descend deeper and deeper

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into corruption, as the Bible says evil men

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grow worse and worse, so has its music. Have

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you noticed?

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Today, what is labeled as popular music is

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dominated by really more and more forms of

13:10

degenerate music, lyrics. Think about just our

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own American musical history. Consider the

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difference

13:21

of the music and the lyrics from the 1920s to

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the 1950s compared with the top 40 songs of

13:30

today.

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I mean, music videos today would give the

13:35

average person in those days, if they could

13:38

see one of

13:39

our music videos a day, an absolute heart

13:40

attack. I mean, think about they looked at

13:42

Marilyn Manson

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video. They couldn't even conceive that that

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would be something that we'd have in American

13:47

culture.

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Same thing with art in the more modern era. In

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general, compared to centuries past, some of

13:53

what is called art nowadays and for a while

13:56

now really is anything but art to me. And I

14:00

worked

14:00

at a museum and I'm telling you, I look at

14:02

some of that like what in the world are y'all

14:04

doing with

14:05

that. I guess I'm not smart enough to

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appreciate that as art, right? But the music

14:11

of the church

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is timeless. Now listen, I'm not talking about

14:18

seven 11 songs. What are seven 11 songs? Seven

14:24

words sung 11 times, sometimes 1100 times in

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the church. I love you Lord, I love you Lord,

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I love you Lord continuously until you're

14:32

about to pass out. I'm not talking about Jesus

14:35

is my

14:36

boyfriend songs either. You ever heard one of

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those? If you haven't, I'll play you one. You

14:39

want to turn it off as soon as you hear it. I

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'm talking about the songs we sing when we

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worship.

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Consider Martin Luther's. A mighty fortress is

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our God. That was written in 1529 and we are

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still

14:59

singing it this day. That is timeless. I mean,

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that one will get me ready to preach. I feel

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like

15:07

singing it right now. Matter of fact, worship

15:11

is the highest expression of a believer's life

15:15

.

15:15

And I think the music that accompanies our

15:19

worship should be the highest and most

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doctrinally sound and best suited for congreg

15:28

ational singing. Let me get to more of that in

15:31

a minute.

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With secular music, there is a reflection of

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the attitude of the society in the time

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it was produced. Think about the sixties,

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right? Listen, now listen, don't go out of

15:45

here and say,

15:46

"Brother Phillips said we ain't supposed to

15:48

listen to no secular music." I'm not saying

15:50

that,

15:50

okay? Don't get the preacher wrong here. What

15:53

I'm trying to emphasize here is that the music

15:59

of the redeemed expresses the unchanging truth

16:04

of the Word of God. It transcends culture.

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What we've sung today transcends culture. And

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that's why we've been singing hymns like

16:18

a mighty fortress since the sixteenth century.

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Consider with me the absolute timelessness of

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amazing grace. How sweet the sound, right? Tim

16:32

eless. Our music, folks, in the church is to be

16:37

different

16:38

because it's reflective of the truth of God

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and the truth of God is that truth that never

16:46

ever

16:47

changes. And the miracle of regeneration and

16:51

the granting of the gifts of repentance and

16:54

faith,

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the changing of our natures have given us a

16:59

new song to sing. And it's a timeless song.

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I think it would be just so great. And I don't

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know because I hadn't been to heaven and I don

17:12

't

17:12

believe none of them, people that write them

17:14

books about it and come back. But I just think

17:17

it's just

17:17

this is just the preacher's wishful thinking

17:20

speculation here. But just wouldn't it be

17:22

great?

17:22

If when we get to heaven, we just keep on

17:28

singing the same songs and hymns that we

17:30

sung on lower hymns. Imagine how it would be

17:32

to sing it there. Imagine mighty fortress up

17:36

there

17:38

with all the saints and the angels gathered

17:39

around the throne. Now, another little side

17:44

note,

17:45

but this will count for my time because it's

17:47

connected to the text. But before we get to

17:49

the

17:49

text, actually, there is a common

17:52

misconception in the church that music is

17:56

worship. For a lot of

18:00

people, when they hear the word worship, what

18:03

's the first thing they think about? They think

18:07

about

18:07

music. I mean, it's time for the worship part

18:12

of the service. The music part is often what

18:15

people

18:16

think about. But I want you to understand this

18:19

clearly. Music is not worship. Music is a

18:25

means

18:25

that we use to express worship. You understand

18:28

the difference? Something that music is this

18:34

emotional experience that you need to go

18:36

through and the right kind of music will just

18:39

stir up

18:40

that emotion all in you. And for sure, no

18:43

question about it, music will do that. We will

18:48

get emotional

18:49

when we're singing God's praises, but that in

18:51

and of itself is not necessarily worship.

18:56

Music will give expression to things like love

19:02

and honor and adoration, and it will give

19:05

expression to worship, but it doesn't produce

19:08

it. What does produce it is the truth that you

19:13

have

19:13

in your heart and the work of the Spirit of

19:16

God in you. That's what produces worship.

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And also, some folks think, well, we've got to

19:25

get the music in our church that appeals

19:29

to the unbeliever, or they're going to get

19:32

bored with our music, or they're not going to

19:36

like

19:36

the way we do music. But it's my position, as

19:40

you know well, that the music that you hear

19:44

here

19:44

at Providence on Sunday morning and indeed the

19:47

entire worship service that we have here

19:49

itself

19:50

is not designed at all for unbelievers.

19:53

Nothing that we do here is for unbelievers.

19:56

Everything that we do here is for God's people

19:59

, God's redeemed, the family of God. I would

20:02

fully

20:02

expect an unbeliever to come into this door

20:05

and come into this church and sit down and not

20:08

particularly

20:09

care for our psalms and our hymns and very

20:11

much be just bored with what we do. No

20:15

different than when

20:16

many of them come here once, never to return

20:20

because of my preaching. How often, if we had

20:26

everybody that came here once, we couldn't fit

20:27

in this building, right? And I'm sorry,

20:32

you might need to get a better preacher. But

20:36

none of what we do here in the church,

20:39

in God's church, is for unbelievers. Look, if

20:43

somebody comes in here and the Spirit of God

20:47

gets ahold of him and saves them while they're

20:50

in our service, raise God. There is nothing

20:53

more

20:53

joyous that could possibly happen. But you can

20:57

be sure of this. We will never do anything

21:00

here in a

21:01

worship service. But what we think brings

21:05

glory to God and edifies his people and is

21:08

prescribed in

21:10

his word alone for how we do worship. That's

21:13

how we roll here, okay? In the Psalms, the

21:19

word "new"

21:20

appears many, many times. And guess what? The

21:24

word "new" in the Psalms appears alongside the

21:28

word

21:29

"song" more than any other word. Because as

21:33

new people, as I said, we have a new song.

21:36

And that's what Paul is getting at here in our

21:40

text. Just do a study on how much singing

21:43

and music is found in the Bible. Like, let me

21:45

give you an example. Look at Psalm chapter 33,

21:50

verses 1 through 3. "Sing for joy in the Lord,

21:55

O you righteous ones. Praise is becoming to

21:59

the

21:59

uproar. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.

22:04

Thing praises to him with a harp of ten

22:07

strings.

22:08

Sing to him," here it is, "a new song. Play

22:13

skillfully with a shout of joy." You know what

22:16

that

22:17

means? God wants it loud. God wants you to

22:20

sing loud in the worship service. He wants,

22:23

in just in those verses right there, look at

22:26

it. He wants music that's loud, that's skill

22:28

ful,

22:29

that's joyful, and that expresses the new song

22:32

of the Christian. David says in Psalm chapter

22:35

40,

22:36

verse 3, "He put a new song in my mouth, a

22:38

song of praise to our God." Psalm 96-1,

22:42

"Sing to the Lord, a new song." Psalm 98-1, "S

22:45

ing to the Lord, a new song." Psalm 149-1,

22:50

"Praise the Lord, sing to the Lord, a new song

22:52

." Even Isaiah and Isaiah 42-10,

22:55

"Sing to the Lord, a new song." Do you get it?

22:58

Christians sing a new song because we are new

23:03

creations. Our music is not like the old song.

23:08

It never should be. Now, when we sing, we sing

23:14

the song of joy and praise and thanksgiving

23:18

for the gift of salvation that we've been

23:21

given,

23:21

the forgiveness of our sins, the promise of

23:24

eternal life, the imputation of the

23:26

righteousness

23:27

of Christ, none of which we deserve. So, just

23:30

remember this. Music and singing are not

23:34

worship,

23:35

they accompany worship. They are the means of

23:39

worship. All right, now let's get to our

23:41

checks.

23:41

Ephesians 5-19, look at verse 19. There are

23:48

three verbs here that carry the action.

23:55

Speaking,

23:56

singing, and making melody. Now, speaking here

24:01

is a very general word. Literally, it means to

24:05

say

24:06

or speak. Really, very literally, it's just

24:09

kind of like making sounds. It could even be

24:12

like the

24:13

sound of a bird chirping or a baby cooing. And

24:16

so, here, we are to make sounds to one another

24:20

,

24:20

to songs, hymns, and spiritual songs by

24:23

singing and making melody. So, we sing and

24:28

making melody here

24:29

literally, literally means this. To sing to

24:33

the accompaniment of an instrument or to play

24:37

an

24:37

instrument. How sad for centuries in the

24:39

medieval times of church, they didn't allow

24:42

any instruments.

24:43

That's what that word means. So, there's two

24:46

ways here in this verse to make sounds. With

24:49

the voice,

24:50

which is the greatest instrument that there is

24:52

. And with instruments, how blessed are we to

24:56

have

24:56

three great musicians in this church to

24:59

accompany our worship, right? So, singing to

25:04

the accompaniment

25:05

of an instrument is an expression of a spirit-

25:09

filled life. And that's what we get to do here

25:13

every

25:13

Sunday. Isn't it great? We get to come back

25:16

here every Sunday and do this. And we are

25:18

going to sing

25:19

forever around the throne of God. And what we

25:24

have here, guess what? Every Sunday is a foret

25:30

aste

25:30

of that glory that's going to go around the

25:33

throne of God with the angels for all time.

25:36

But that's a sermon for another day. Don't

25:38

have time to get to that one. Boy, I could,

25:41

though.

25:43

But go back to verse 19 and look at that first

25:47

phrase. Speaking to one another. Clearly, what

25:51

does

25:52

that mean? Believers. Speaking to other

25:55

believers. We sing among ourselves is maybe

25:59

the best way

26:00

to put it. This is a mutual ministry amongst

26:04

the saints that we have here on Sunday morning

26:07

. And

26:07

let me tell you, be very clear, this is not

26:10

entertainment up here. Too many churches have

26:13

entertainment. This is not entertainment. This

26:16

is not even evangelistic. As I said earlier,

26:19

none of this is for outsiders. It's among us.

26:23

It's among family members. Again, listen to me

26:27

. If an

26:27

unbeliever comes in here and God uses our

26:29

worship service to save them, pray to God. But

26:31

it's not

26:32

designed for them. This is not the seeker-

26:35

friendly church. It's the only way it's a see

26:37

ker-friendly

26:38

is because we understand the only people that

26:41

seek God are believers. No man seeks after God

26:43

in his natural condition. Romans tells us. So,

26:47

this speaking to one another in this verse is

26:51

clearly meaning that these actions, speaking,

26:55

singing, and melody, obviously, if we're

26:57

having to

26:58

speak to one another, it's done publicly in

27:00

the setting right here that we're in here

27:02

today,

27:02

the congregation of God's people. Look at

27:06

Hebrews 2.12. "I will proclaim your name to my

27:12

brethren in

27:13

the midst of the congregation. I will sing

27:15

your praise." Now, I'm going to come back to

27:17

that verse

27:18

at the end. You just hold on to that one. You

27:21

're filled with the Spirit. Listen, you can

27:26

sing praise

27:27

when you're all by yourself. You can't. There

27:30

's nothing wrong with that. I've been guilty of

27:33

that.

27:33

Now, I come out of one of these men. I mean,

27:36

we had 44 men up in here singing to the top of

27:38

their

27:38

lungs of the night. It wouldn't be unusual for

27:41

me to belt out, "I'm on my feet for a drink,

27:45

driving

27:45

down the road, man. I'm fired up." You know,

27:48

somebody looks over at me and like, "What is

27:50

this crazy

27:51

man doing?" Right? But listen to this. You can

27:57

't be obedient to sing in the midst of the

28:02

congregation

28:03

if you're not in a congregation on Sunday

28:05

morning. You know what that means in the Greek

28:08

? Go to church

28:10

every Sunday. That's the Greek. "Do not fors

28:14

ake the assembling of yourselves. Together is

28:17

not a

28:18

suggestion, folks. This is a grace that we've

28:20

been given to do this every single Sunday

28:23

morning

28:23

for the rest of our lives." Now, go back to

28:26

verse 19, singing and making melody. Look at

28:31

that next

28:31

phrase, "with your heart." This comes from the

28:36

heart. It's the overflow of a redeemed heart.

28:41

It's a

28:42

literal bubbling over of a redeemed, saved

28:44

Christian person. It's an expression of the

28:47

joy of the Holy

28:49

Spirit that indwells you. If it's not from the

28:52

heart of a believer, guess what? You can't

28:54

sing the way

28:55

that God wants you to sing. Period. You can

28:57

sing the same words and you can even sing them

28:59

loud.

29:00

But if they're not in saving faith and not

29:02

under the grace of having been given the gifts

29:06

of repentance

29:06

and faith, it's not the way God wants it to

29:09

sound. In fact, you're still in disobedience

29:12

to Him.

29:12

God, in fact, indicted the people of Israel

29:16

through the prophet Amos because the people

29:20

of Israel in that time period kept singing and

29:23

they were doing all their offerings,

29:25

but their hearts were all wrong when they were

29:29

doing those things. And look at what God says

29:33

through the prophet Amos in Amos 521 about

29:36

this situation. Hearts were wrong, yet they're

29:39

still

29:39

worshiping outwardly. This is God. I hate. I

29:46

reject your festivals. Nor do I delight

29:51

in your solemn assemblies. Then look at verse

29:54

23. "Take away from me the noise of your songs

30:00

.

30:01

I will not even listen to the sound of your

30:06

hearts."

30:07

Can you imagine God feeling that way about our

30:12

service? I hate your songs. I reject your

30:17

worship

30:17

service. Take away the noise of your singing

30:20

and get them instruments out of my hearing.

30:23

Can you imagine that? That's why when you come

30:25

to church to worship, you better come correct.

30:28

That's what that says to us. Have your heart

30:31

right when you come to Sunday morning worship

30:35

with God's people. God has given a high

30:38

priority to our singing because it is the

30:41

release again

30:43

of a redeemed heart. That's why I believe our

30:47

music by necessity has to be different from

30:51

the

30:51

world's music because the Spirit of God is so

30:56

unique. We should never try to mimic the world

31:03

in our worship service or the world's music.

31:06

Plenty of churches do that. God is nothing

31:10

like this world system. I tell you, when

31:13

anybody leaves out of here, if they don't know

31:16

anything

31:17

else, they should never be confused about the

31:20

fact that they just went to church.

31:22

Not some kind of concert. When you come to

31:26

church, again, you have to understand this is

31:30

not

31:30

a performance that we have going on up here

31:33

with our very talented musicians. And guess

31:36

what?

31:36

When you come to worship service, you are not

31:40

the audience. God is the audience, right?

31:46

And we're all singing to God. We're giving

31:48

worship to God. Look again at the end of verse

31:52

19.

31:52

Who is it that you're singing to on Sunday

31:54

morning? End of verse 19. To the Lord.

31:58

Think about when we sing the hymn. Oh, God,

32:03

our help in ages past. Our hope for years to

32:08

come.

32:08

Who are we talking to there? Who are we

32:10

singing to there? God. When we are singing,

32:15

there is

32:15

a fountain filled with blood drawn from

32:18

Emmanuel's veins. Who are you singing to?

32:23

Jesus Christ,

32:24

the one who gave his blood for you. The great

32:28

composer, my favorite classical

32:32

composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. He used to

32:36

sign his music with SDG. You've seen me put

32:40

that on many

32:41

of our church group texts. You've seen me put

32:44

that on many of our Facebook posts. What does

32:46

it stand

32:47

for in the Latin? One of the five great solos

32:50

of the Reformation. Soli, Deo, Gloria, to the

32:54

glory

32:54

of God alone. And that is our motive here in

32:58

all of our worship services. With everything

33:03

we do,

33:03

especially with any music, we have to first

33:07

ask the question, will it honor God? Will it

33:11

reverence God? Will it bring glory to God? And

33:14

that brings up another point we need to

33:16

address

33:17

here in Ephesians 19. With what do we sing?

33:21

Well, look again. Paul says it in Psalms, hym

33:26

ns,

33:26

and spiritual songs. Now, there's a difference

33:30

of opinion with the commentators on what these

33:32

things represent. And I'm not going to take

33:34

time to take you through all the different

33:36

opinions,

33:36

because really, there's not huge differences

33:39

between these things. But there are dist

33:42

inctions

33:43

between these three. And there's a lot of

33:46

overlap between these three. I mean, Psalms is

33:49

pretty

33:49

self-explanatory, right? The Old Testament

33:52

Psalm. We just sang, what was it? Psalm 145.

33:55

The Greek word, psalmos. It's also used the

33:59

idea as anthems to God. And that is really so

34:03

much of

34:03

what the Psalms are, right? And as you know,

34:07

we sing the Psalms that we read every single

34:12

Sunday.

34:12

I just said, Dale said the other night, in our

34:14

15 years, we've read through the entire book

34:17

of Psalms

34:18

five times in our 15-year history. When we get

34:20

to the end, we go back to the beginning. We do

34:22

the

34:22

same thing with the New Testament. I mean, you

34:24

ain't getting nothing but Bible up in here.

34:28

And the reason why we get you to stand up, and

34:32

it might be a little aggravating for the

34:35

visitor

34:36

that comes down. Wait, we just sat down. Why

34:37

we got to stand up back up again? There's a

34:39

reason

34:39

for that. It's not just because we want you to

34:41

stretch your legs. It's because even though

34:43

the

34:43

lyrics are the paraphrase of the Psalm, we are

34:46

together literally singing the word of God.

34:50

And it's time to stand up when we do that. So,

34:56

many Psalms speak of the nature and the work

35:00

of God,

35:01

and we have many hymns that do that as well,

35:03

as you know. So, like I said, there's some

35:06

overlap here

35:07

in kind of the definition, but next we have hy

35:09

mns. Now, what's the first thing you think of

35:12

when you hear the word hymn? Well, whatever's

35:14

in the hymn book is a hymn, right?

35:17

But the Greek word, humnos, really the general

35:22

meaning is a song of praise. Okay, and that's

35:26

very

35:27

general. John MacArthur says this, a hymn

35:30

means a song of praise and is generally

35:32

related to salvation.

35:34

So, right there, think of this distinction.

35:38

You got Psalms, great anthems to the nature

35:41

and the

35:41

work of God, and then you got hymns, songs of

35:44

salvation that are often connected to the

35:48

person

35:48

and work of Jesus Christ on the cross, like

35:51

the old rugged cross or at the cross, and

35:54

think of hymns

35:55

like that. And then next we have spiritual

35:58

songs, you see there. That's a very broad term

36:00

, of course.

36:01

The idea, though, is more toward personal

36:05

testimony to the spiritual work of God

36:10

in our lives. Again, there's overlap in these

36:13

distinctions, and I don't really think you sit

36:16

down and come up with a strict set of rules

36:18

for, you know, lining all these out, but for

36:20

spiritual

36:21

songs, think of, I'd rather have Jesus than

36:27

anything. I think that would qualify as a

36:30

spiritual song,

36:31

more personal testimony, right, about the work

36:33

of God in your life. So, I think these broad

36:37

categories

36:39

that describe what Paul is talking about here,

36:40

but just think of that mixture. Psalms, anth

36:44

ems to the

36:45

nature and work of God, hymns, songs about the

36:48

cross and salvation and the redemptions of

36:50

Christ,

36:50

and then great testimonies to what God has

36:53

done in our life. What a great mixture, right,

36:56

of things

36:57

for us to sing. All of those are the

36:59

expression of a spirit-filled heart, and that

37:03

's what Paul

37:05

noticed, list first under this category in our

37:09

text. So, we have a new song, and we have to

37:14

understand everything we do here in our

37:17

service, again, is very deliberate, very

37:20

thought-out,

37:21

very purposeful, every aspect. We don't just

37:24

sing hymns from the hymn book because we're

37:26

Baptist,

37:27

and that's the way the Baptist always do it.

37:29

We just sing it out the hymn book. That's the

37:30

way

37:31

it's always been done. There are multiple

37:33

reasons for why we sing the hymns. They are

37:37

theologically rich, boy, we're saying

37:39

something this morning, right, that are the

37:41

ologically rich.

37:42

They are God-centered. They are not man-

37:44

centered. They are Christ-exalting. They focus

37:48

on the glory

37:49

of God. Well, we were discussing Wednesday

37:51

night this subject, Rogel pointed out that the

37:54

hymns are

37:54

even designed for congregational singing, the

37:58

way that the melodies go, so everybody can

38:01

sing them.

38:01

I mean, if we spice up our songs to kind of

38:05

like the melody of one of the top 40 songs of

38:09

today,

38:10

not everybody's going to be able to sing that.

38:13

Not all of us have the same amount of rhythm

38:15

that

38:15

my dad has, okay? And then what winds up

38:18

happening, if you got songs like that, not

38:20

everybody can

38:21

sing them, so some people aren't even singing

38:23

at that point. And that happens. I've seen

38:25

that in

38:25

many churches happen where it's really a

38:27

performance and the guys up there, they're

38:28

going to town,

38:29

man, it sounds great, but nobody's really

38:31

singing. Nobody's, nobody's using that as an

38:34

expression of

38:34

worship. And when you're singing from the

38:37

heart and your spirit fills, it doesn't really

38:43

matter if

38:44

you can't sing in the right key. It don't

38:46

really matter. I mean, we're all singing in

38:49

together,

38:50

so it all kind of just blends together, right?

38:52

You're singing, folks, as an expression of a

39:01

spirit

39:02

filled heart in the midst of the congregation.

39:06

I mean, what activity during your week is

39:10

better

39:10

than that as a Christian? That's why you want

39:15

to know what happens, whether it's Roger Dale

39:19

or me

39:20

leading the music, we turn this microphone off

39:21

. We want to hear all your voices.

39:25

And we also want to spare you from our less

39:27

than Grammy-winning abilities as well, but

39:30

beside that,

39:31

I go to, I've been to churches where the mic

39:34

is turned up so loud on the music leader,

39:37

you can't hear the people. I want to hear

39:40

everybody singing in congregational worship.

39:44

Now,

39:46

I want to close by taking you to two verses

39:51

that really broaden this action of singing out

39:56

to the absolute highest level possible.

40:00

There's going to come a day

40:04

when the music of this world is going to stop,

40:11

and it's going to be no more.

40:15

I'm absolutely certain there's going to be no

40:18

music in hell, okay? Because that's a gift of

40:22

God's

40:22

common grace. There's no even common grace in

40:25

hell. Eventually, there's going to be a new

40:28

heaven

40:28

and a new earth, whatever eschatology you have

40:31

, we all get to the same place, new heaven, new

40:33

earth.

40:34

And there's going to be a lot of singing there

40:38

. And let me give you an example.

40:42

Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 17 in heaven. It

40:52

says this, "The Lord your God

40:57

is in your midst a victorious warrior. He, God

41:06

, will exalt over you saints with joy.

41:11

He, God, will be quiet in his love. He, God,

41:17

will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

41:23

That's God

41:24

right there. In the Hebrew, as I said earlier,

41:27

also translated into the King James Version,

41:31

singing, loud, singing. Can you imagine? This

41:38

verse is telling us that God himself

41:42

in the midst of the congregation of all the

41:45

saints, of all the ages, and all the angels

41:49

gathered round is rejoicing over us with loud

41:53

singing. That is the ultimate solo.

41:57

God singing to us. I can't fathom it. Can you?

42:01

Well, guess what? There's one more.

42:03

It's not done. Hebrews chapter 2. And I quoted

42:07

this earlier. Now I'm going to give you the

42:09

full

42:09

context. This, of course, is Jesus speaking of

42:14

Jesus. And just to give a little run up the

42:19

ramp

42:19

in context, let's read verses 9. And the

42:23

primary verse here will be verse 12, speaking

42:28

of Jesus.

42:29

"But we do see him who was made for a little

42:35

while lower than the angels, namely Jesus,

42:41

because of the suffering of death, crowned

42:45

with glory and honor, said by the grace of God

42:49

,

42:49

he might taste death for everyone. For it was

42:54

fitting for him for whom are all things,

43:00

and through whom are all things, and bringing

43:05

many sons to glory, to perfect the author of

43:11

their

43:11

salvation through suffering. For both he who

43:17

sanctifies and those who are sanctified are

43:22

all

43:22

from one father, for which reason he, Jesus,

43:28

is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying,

43:32

I will proclaim your name to my brethren in

43:35

the midst of the congregation. I will sing

43:39

your praise."

43:40

Can you imagine? I will proclaim your name in

43:45

the midst of the congregation. I will sing

43:48

your

43:49

praise. This is Jesus Christ, the God-man in

43:52

his glorified, resurrected body, singing

43:56

praise to

43:56

the Father in the midst of all the saints and

43:59

angels of all time. Can you, can you grasp

44:01

that?

44:02

No, you cannot. No, you cannot. But you can

44:06

grasp the tip of the iceberg of the concept of

44:09

it,

44:10

can't you? And that brings us to the table

44:13

here for today. This is the table of the one,

44:20

think

44:20

about it, the one who will one day sing praise

44:25

to the Father as we are there to witness.