WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:03.669 Thank you for being here tonight Thank you for 00:00:03.669 --> 00:00:06.009 coming out to support the gospel meeting at North 00:00:06.009 --> 00:00:09.849 Warren Your presence here tonight your participation 00:00:09.849 --> 00:00:12.589 in the service through song and prayer helps 00:00:12.589 --> 00:00:17.530 make this gospel meeting a success and It's very 00:00:17.530 --> 00:00:20.629 uplifting to us to have you here if you consider 00:00:20.629 --> 00:00:24.949 yourself a guest a visitor We want to give you 00:00:24.949 --> 00:00:26.989 a warm welcome. We're especially glad you're 00:00:26.989 --> 00:00:29.789 here. We hope you can come back and continue 00:00:29.789 --> 00:00:31.809 to be a part of this gospel meeting as it goes 00:00:31.809 --> 00:00:34.289 forward the rest of the week. This week we've 00:00:34.289 --> 00:00:37.070 been talking about a topic that we feel like 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:39.950 is very important. We've been talking about restoring 00:00:39.950 --> 00:00:43.149 New Testament Christianity. We see a desperate 00:00:43.149 --> 00:00:47.009 need in the religious world around us to restore 00:00:47.009 --> 00:00:50.909 the church that Jesus built, and we have a strong 00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:55.149 desire to do our part in restoring Christ's church. 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:57.979 And we are convinced and convicted that the only 00:00:57.979 --> 00:01:00.119 true way to go about accomplishing that goal 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.020 and mission is to simply go back to the Bible 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:06.700 so that we can find our faith, we can find our 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:09.879 doctrine, and we can find our practice. Tonight 00:01:09.879 --> 00:01:12.200 we're going to go ahead in our series of studies 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:14.519 and we're going to talk about restoring the type 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:19.400 of music that God wants in the church. What kind 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:23.250 of music has God asked us for? Whatever kind 00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:25.989 of music God has asked us to offer him in the 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:28.609 church That's what we want to discover from the 00:01:28.609 --> 00:01:31.409 scriptures and whatever that music is. That's 00:01:31.409 --> 00:01:35.010 the kind of music we want to give to God now 00:01:35.010 --> 00:01:38.209 before we go any further in this lesson, I want 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:42.370 us to be I Want it I want it to be clear. I don't 00:01:42.370 --> 00:01:44.569 want it to be misunderstood I want us to have 00:01:44.569 --> 00:01:48.269 a laser like focus on Exactly what we're trying 00:01:48.269 --> 00:01:51.189 to discover from the scriptures concerning music 00:01:51.500 --> 00:01:55.120 And just to reiterate, we want to restore the 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:59.239 type of music God wants in the church. We are 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:02.099 not interested in restoring the type of music 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:06.760 that God may have asked the Jews for in centuries 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:11.240 gone by during that old covenant law that they 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:13.680 lived under and worshipped according to. We're 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:16.500 not interested in restoring Old Testament worship 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:19.479 or the music that the Jews gave to God under 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:22.620 the old covenant. You know, in 2 Chronicles 29 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:26.139 -25 the Bible tells us in the days of King Hezekiah 00:02:26.139 --> 00:02:29.180 that he the king set the Levites, that was the 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:31.939 priests, in the house of the Lord with cymbals, 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:35.060 with psalteries, and with harps. And this was 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.460 done according to the commandment of David the 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:41.719 king, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:45.659 the prophet, for so was the commandment of the 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:49.719 Lord by his prophets. It's easy for us to see 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:52.520 from this verse that under that old covenant 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.719 law, during the days of King Hezekiah, God asked 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:58.360 his people, the Jews, to worship him with instruments 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:02.139 of music. He commanded it through the king, through 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:04.219 the seers, through the prophets. The Bible says 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:06.580 it was the commandment of the Lord. God wanted 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:10.060 that type of music at that time from his people, 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.819 the Jews, and so he asked them to worship him 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:15.740 with instruments. But you know, we don't live 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:18.560 under that old covenant law today. We don't worship 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:22.900 according to the practices of the Old Testament 00:03:22.900 --> 00:03:26.360 Paul tells us in Galatians 3 24 wherefore the 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:28.960 law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.020 that we might be justified by faith But after 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:34.219 that faith has come he says we are no longer 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:37.259 under a schoolmaster We understand Christ came 00:03:37.259 --> 00:03:40.159 and brought a new and better covenant And that's 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.219 the covenant that we live under today as Christians, 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.199 and that's the covenant we worship according 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:47.319 to. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 6 talks about that 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:49.919 covenant, where it says, But now hath he that's 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.180 Jesus obtained a more excellent ministry, by 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:55.939 how much also he that's Christ is the mediator 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:59.060 of a better covenant, which was established upon 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:02.129 better promises. We have a new and better covenant 00:04:02.129 --> 00:04:04.870 today that Christ has brought us. And so we don't 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:06.969 turn back to the shadows of that old covenant 00:04:06.969 --> 00:04:10.150 law for guidance on how to worship God. Not when 00:04:10.150 --> 00:04:12.949 Jesus came and took that law out of the way and 00:04:12.949 --> 00:04:14.969 brought a new better covenant for Christians 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:18.089 today. Here's something else I want you to understand. 00:04:18.110 --> 00:04:20.709 We do not wish to try to restore the type of 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:26.110 music which may or may not be in heaven. You 00:04:26.110 --> 00:04:29.000 know in Revelation chapter five verses eight 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.779 to nine, the book of Revelation describes a vision 00:04:31.779 --> 00:04:35.040 that the apostle John had. John had many visions 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.360 and they're recorded in Revelation. And in one 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:39.959 of those visions, John sees twenty four elders 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:42.839 surrounding the throne of God. And these elders 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:46.399 have golden vials and they have harps and they're 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:48.519 playing their harps and they're singing to God. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.000 Now we don't try to deny the fact that John had 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.459 this vision of 24 elders playing harps around 00:04:56.459 --> 00:04:59.800 the throne of God in Revelation chapter 5. However, 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:01.800 we do have to remember something about the book 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.860 of Revelation. In Revelation 1 .1 the Bible says 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:09.000 that it was a revelation given to John by Jesus 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:13.319 through his angel and the message was sent and 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:16.120 signified or it was revealed in signs and symbols 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.709 to the Apostle John who wrote Revelation. And 00:05:19.709 --> 00:05:22.269 as it is with many things in the book of Revelation, 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:24.790 a lot of the language is figurative and symbolic 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:28.649 in nature. Just as those golden vials in Revelation 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:32.730 5, 8, and 9 are symbolic of the prayers of the 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:35.730 saints, it is most likely that those harps are 00:05:35.730 --> 00:05:39.209 not literal harps, but more symbolic of the praise 00:05:39.209 --> 00:05:44.189 that the saints offer to God. So we're not interested 00:05:44.189 --> 00:05:49.000 in an inquiry into whether or not there's going 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.500 to be literal harps or literal instruments of 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:53.939 music in heaven. I think that's probably another 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:57.060 lesson for another time and that's a controversial 00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:00.220 question. But we're really not interested in 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:02.339 what kind of music may or may not be in heaven. 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.420 We're also not interested or we don't wish to 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:08.319 restore whatever type of music might be the most 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.740 popular. or the most preferred in Christianity 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:14.920 or even in our own congregations. It's not about 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.060 what's trendy, it's not about what's popular, 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.120 it's not about the kind of music that we like. 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.879 Again, our focus is on this, restoring the type 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.779 of music that God asks us to give him when we 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:31.000 come together in the assemblies of the church. 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:34.439 I will, before we move on past this introduction, 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:36.420 I will make a few points though. I want to draw 00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:38.300 a few points from some of the things I've shared 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:43.040 with you tonight. If there are literal instruments 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:47.160 of music in heaven, if that's true, then we know 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:49.459 that God is quite familiar with instrumental 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:53.069 music, isn't he? And you know, if God commanded 00:06:53.069 --> 00:06:55.209 the Jews to worship Him with instruments under 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:58.930 the law, and He did in 2 Chronicles 29 -25, that 00:06:58.930 --> 00:07:01.550 tells us that God is very capable. He is quite 00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:04.129 capable of communicating to His people what He 00:07:04.129 --> 00:07:07.389 wants for worship. And all that being said, it 00:07:07.389 --> 00:07:10.470 leads us to two very important questions. And 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:12.790 the questions are these. What kind of music does 00:07:12.790 --> 00:07:16.259 God want from us as Christians today? when we 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:18.600 discover that type of music that God wants us 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:21.100 to give him as Christians will we be satisfied 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:24.540 to give the word give God the worship the music 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:29.480 that he has asked for that he desires regardless 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:32.939 of what we might want to do for music or what 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:36.420 we might desire to give God for worship those 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:38.100 are the two questions we're going to concern 00:07:38.100 --> 00:07:40.399 ourselves with tonight as we go through this 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:43.639 lesson As we've done tonight in the course of 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:45.939 this meeting, we're gonna take a very careful 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:49.680 methodical approach to considering this practice. 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:54.199 We're gonna follow a four -step approach when 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:56.439 it comes to restoring God's plan for music in 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:58.600 the church. The first step is this. We're gonna 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:02.800 go to the New Testament. and find God's plan 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:05.980 for music as it was originally revealed to the 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:08.740 New Testament church. And when we do that, we 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:13.160 find a pattern of singing music. God's original 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:15.180 plan and pattern for music in the church was 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.779 a pattern of singing music. We'll look at some 00:08:17.779 --> 00:08:20.480 verses which illustrate this. Ephesians chapter 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.980 5 verses 18 to 20. It tells us there to be not 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:27.100 drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled 00:08:27.100 --> 00:08:30.860 with the Spirit. It says speaking to yourselves 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:35.259 in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing 00:08:35.259 --> 00:08:38.059 and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:41.919 giving thanks always for all things unto God 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.460 and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus 00:08:44.460 --> 00:08:47.960 Christ. Bible tells us here to speak to one another 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.340 and to give thanks to God by singing psalms, 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:56.289 hymns, and spiritual songs. Almost identical 00:08:56.289 --> 00:08:58.629 to what he told the Colossians. He told the church 00:08:58.629 --> 00:09:02.009 at Colossi and Colossians 3 16 He said let the 00:09:02.009 --> 00:09:05.210 word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:08.269 Teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms 00:09:08.269 --> 00:09:11.429 and hymns and spiritual songs Singing he says 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:15.029 with grace in your hearts to the Lord Now he 00:09:15.029 --> 00:09:17.190 told the Colossians here that they were to teach 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:20.309 and they were to admonish one another Through 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:24.029 the same exercise through singing Psalms hymns 00:09:24.090 --> 00:09:27.750 spiritual songs. Also in the book of James, James 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:33.409 5 13. Book of James 5 13 says, is any among you 00:09:33.409 --> 00:09:38.470 afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him 00:09:38.470 --> 00:09:41.970 sing psalms. The message is clear. During the 00:09:41.970 --> 00:09:44.330 hard times, what do God's people do? We pray. 00:09:44.970 --> 00:09:47.730 During the happy times, what do we do? Tells 00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:51.970 us to sing, sing psalms. First Corinthians 14 00:09:51.970 --> 00:09:55.509 verse 15. 1st Corinthians 14 is a very interesting 00:09:55.509 --> 00:09:58.850 chapter. It gives us a lot of guidance and instruction 00:09:58.850 --> 00:10:00.929 on how to conduct ourselves in the assemblies 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:03.149 of the church. If you're interested in that, 00:10:03.350 --> 00:10:05.190 come back Saturday night. We're gonna do an in 00:10:05.190 --> 00:10:08.269 -depth dive into 1st Corinthians 14 and look 00:10:08.269 --> 00:10:12.289 at what it teaches us about the proper teaching 00:10:12.289 --> 00:10:15.450 that needs to take place when the church assembles. 00:10:16.029 --> 00:10:18.009 But there's a verse in 1st Corinthians 14 that 00:10:18.009 --> 00:10:21.509 also speaks to singing. OK, in the greater context 00:10:21.509 --> 00:10:24.950 of this passage is the assembly. First Corinthians 00:10:24.950 --> 00:10:27.789 14, 15, Paul tells the Corinthians, What is it 00:10:27.789 --> 00:10:30.269 then? I will pray with the spirit and I will 00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:33.309 pray with the understanding also. He says, I 00:10:33.309 --> 00:10:37.090 will sing with the spirit and I will sing with 00:10:37.090 --> 00:10:41.269 the understanding also. Here, the Bible mentions 00:10:41.269 --> 00:10:44.809 Paul, he references singing in the assembly and 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:48.210 doing so both with the spirit and with the understanding. 00:10:48.570 --> 00:10:51.789 So the pattern that we see in these New Testament 00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:54.370 scriptures, the pattern for music is very clear. 00:10:54.769 --> 00:10:58.830 It's consistent. It's a pattern for singing music 00:10:58.830 --> 00:11:02.009 to God. We also find in these verses that God 00:11:02.009 --> 00:11:04.990 tells us to sing this music and offer it up from 00:11:04.990 --> 00:11:08.179 our hearts. We sing from the heart we saw that 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:11.700 in Ephesians 5 19 where it says speaking to yourselves 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:13.820 and Psalms hymns and spiritual songs singing 00:11:13.820 --> 00:11:16.980 and Making melody where he says make melody in 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:19.879 your heart to the Lord notice where the melody 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:23.240 is made Notice where the music comes from that 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:25.759 we offer up to God the Bible says that we make 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.460 that melody in our heart It doesn't mean mention 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:31.379 making that melody in a piano. It doesn't mention 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:34.679 making that melody in a guitar It doesn't mention 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:37.960 making that melody in a trumpet. It tells us 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:41.200 to sing to God and make the melody. The music 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:46.000 comes from our hearts. We also saw this in Colossians 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:48.399 3, 16, where he says, Teach and admonish one 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.659 another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, 00:11:51.059 --> 00:11:54.580 singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:59.200 Again, the music, the praise comes forth from 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:03.679 our hearts in the form of singing and Giving 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:08.100 praise to God through song We also find in the 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:10.620 New Testament pattern for music the idea that 00:12:10.620 --> 00:12:13.460 God wants us to give him a sacrifice of praise 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:16.840 and That praise is to come forth in the form 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:19.899 of the fruit of our lips or the words that we 00:12:19.899 --> 00:12:23.139 sing to God This is in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:26.879 15 where it says by him. That's Jesus Therefore, 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:30.360 let us offer the sacrifice of praise God wants 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.179 us to give him a sacrifice of praise. He wants 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:35.519 us to give it to him continually, and then he 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:38.299 goes on to describe here what that is. He says 00:12:38.299 --> 00:12:42.220 that is the fruit of our lips. The fruit of our 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:44.759 lips, the words that we sing, the praise that 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:48.039 we offer up with our voices, the fruit of our 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:51.340 lips giving thanks to his name. That's the sacrifice 00:12:51.340 --> 00:12:55.139 of praise God is looking for when we come together 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.679 in the assembly. We praise him with the fruit 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:02.320 of our lips. Now something that we do notice 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:05.139 as we're looking at all these New Testament scriptures 00:13:05.139 --> 00:13:08.940 which speak to God's plan for music We see a 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:11.600 pattern for singing singing that music from the 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.259 heart Offering God a sacrifice of praise as being 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:18.620 the fruit of our lips But we don't find any mention 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:21.440 of any kind of mechanical instruments of music 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:25.190 being involved God's plan or pattern for music 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:27.629 for the New Testament Church every scripture 00:13:27.629 --> 00:13:30.110 to my knowledge in the New Testament which speaks 00:13:30.110 --> 00:13:33.210 to the type of music God wants us to give him 00:13:33.210 --> 00:13:35.529 in the church it always mentioned singing of 00:13:35.529 --> 00:13:39.490 music did you notice that that that was the consistent 00:13:39.490 --> 00:13:42.769 theme in all of these verses it was always about 00:13:42.769 --> 00:13:48.509 singing speaking teaching words coming forth 00:13:48.509 --> 00:13:51.440 in Psalms hymns and spiritual long Psalms, hymns 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.220 and spiritual songs coming from our heart, coming 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:57.159 forth as the fruit of our lips. The common thread 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:00.519 and theme is God has just asked us to sing the 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.960 music. None of the scriptures in the New Testament 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.340 which speak to the type of music God wants in 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:09.740 the church mention the playing of any instruments 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:14.399 whatsoever. Now when God wanted instrumental 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.259 music as we mentioned in second Chronicles 29 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:21.500 25 when he wanted the Jews to play musical instruments 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.419 as part of their worship God asked for that type 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:28.220 of worship and his people obeyed the commandment 00:14:28.220 --> 00:14:32.759 of God But the commandment of God for new covenant 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.620 Christians today is not that we play instruments 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:39.419 of music The type of music God wants from Christians 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:41.700 today under the New Testament, He wants us to 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:44.700 sing music apparently without the use of instruments. 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:47.100 Otherwise, He would have mentioned instrumental 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:49.799 music in the New Testament. But since He's just 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.799 asked us to sing, we hear His command and we 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:55.100 try to respond in obedience. That's why when 00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:57.139 we come together at North Warren Church of Christ, 00:14:57.139 --> 00:14:59.139 we don't have a guitar, we don't have drums, 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:03.200 we don't have a piano, we just give God the type 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:08.480 of music He's asked for, we just sing. Now before 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.139 we move on I just want to answer a few commonly 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:15.460 offered objections To some of the things that 00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:19.220 we're teaching tonight Some have said that the 00:15:19.220 --> 00:15:22.019 Greek word for Psalms as we read it in Ephesians 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:26.460 5 19 that that Greek word for Psalms implies 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:29.889 singing music with instruments You know, some 00:15:29.889 --> 00:15:31.710 have claimed this and some have brought this 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:34.429 to our attention, that the word Psalms implies 00:15:34.429 --> 00:15:36.850 or infers that God wants us to use instruments. 00:15:37.370 --> 00:15:40.649 Okay, as it is with every statement, we need 00:15:40.649 --> 00:15:43.230 to honestly consider it. So let's consider this 00:15:43.230 --> 00:15:46.330 idea. Let's look at the Greek word for Psalms 00:15:46.330 --> 00:15:48.929 and let's see if this is true. The Greek word 00:15:48.929 --> 00:15:51.870 for Psalms in Ephesians 5 .19 is the Greek noun, 00:15:51.909 --> 00:15:55.100 psalmos. If you go to a Greek lexicon and study 00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:57.059 the Greek word psalmos, here's the definition 00:15:57.059 --> 00:16:00.059 of the word. Psalmos simply refers to a set piece 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:05.019 of music that is a sacred ode. That's a Greek 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:08.279 definition for psalmos. A psalmos is just a set 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:11.639 piece of music. Now, if you study psalmos a little 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:14.059 bit deeper, here's a fact that you will find. 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:17.679 This Greek noun, psalmos, can in fact refer to 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:21.240 both vocal music and it can refer to instrumental 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:24.509 music. Why? Because psalmos is just a piece of 00:16:24.509 --> 00:16:26.889 music. It doesn't really tell us whether or not 00:16:26.889 --> 00:16:29.230 the music is being sung or the music is being 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:31.669 played. It's just talking about a piece of music. 00:16:32.289 --> 00:16:35.370 So in Ephesians 5 19 the question then becomes, 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:40.549 which is it? Is it vocal music when it says psalmos 00:16:40.549 --> 00:16:43.289 or is it instrumental music when it says psalmos 00:16:43.289 --> 00:16:47.429 in Ephesians 5 19? Here's what we got to do. 00:16:47.429 --> 00:16:50.090 If we will look carefully at the context of that 00:16:50.090 --> 00:16:53.720 passage, It'll tell us what type of music is 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.039 under consideration. So let's go back and do 00:16:56.039 --> 00:17:00.159 that. Let's look at Ephesians 5 19 It says speaking 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:05.539 to yourselves in Psalms Greek word psalmos Speaking 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:08.339 to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:13.059 songs singing it says These psalms were psalms 00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:16.799 for speaking these psalms were psalms for singing 00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:20.500 So the context here is telling us that psalmos, 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:23.400 meaning a set piece of music, is talking about 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.759 a piece of music that's to be sung. There's no 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:29.180 reference to playing music. There's no reference 00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:32.039 to any musical instrument in this verse. So the 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:37.400 context is telling us that the psalmos, the piece 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:39.920 of music, is being sung. It's not being played. 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:44.279 One more objection that's commonly offered before 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:47.619 we move on is the idea that the Greek word another 00:17:47.619 --> 00:17:51.019 Greek word in the same verse Ephesians 5 19 the 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:55.039 Greek word for making melody Implies that we 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.759 should play instruments. Well, let's let's give 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.240 that some consideration for just a moment Let's 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.779 look at the Greek word for making melody in Ephesians 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:06.039 5 19 the Greek word for making melody in that 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:09.779 verse is a Greek verb an action word, solo, P 00:18:09.779 --> 00:18:13.019 -S -A -L -L -O, solo. You know what solo means? 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.619 Here's the definition of solo. Remember it's 00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:18.819 an action, it's a verb. It means to pluck, to 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:22.019 twang, or to cause to vibrate. That's what the 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:24.380 Greek word solo means. It's translated making 00:18:24.380 --> 00:18:28.799 melody in Ephesians 5 .19. Now it is true, it 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.859 is also very true that yes, a stringed musical 00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:35.099 instrument can be soloed. It can be plucked, 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.900 it can be twanged, you can make its strings vibrate. 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:41.740 That is true. You could take a guitar and solo 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:44.099 it. When you play it, you vibrate its strings. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.259 But let me tell you, there are so many other 00:18:47.259 --> 00:18:50.180 objects that can be soloed just as well as a 00:18:50.180 --> 00:18:52.559 guitar. And if you study ancient Greek literature, 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:55.299 here's just a few examples from ancient Greek 00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:58.660 literature. Ancient Greek literature talks about 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:01.619 The plucking of hair, plucking or pulling of 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:04.319 hair and it uses the Greek verb solo, same action. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:07.299 The literature talks about the twanging of a 00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:11.940 bow string and it uses the Greek word solo. Greek 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:14.500 literature talks about the snapping of a carpenter's 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:17.539 line and it uses that same Greek word solo or 00:19:17.539 --> 00:19:21.039 it can be vibrating the strings of a harp, the 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:24.160 Greek word is solo. The point I'm trying to make 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.099 is this, when we find the Greek word solo, that 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:31.049 verb, meaning to pluck, vibrate, or twang. The 00:19:31.049 --> 00:19:34.029 object being plucked, twanged, or vibrated is 00:19:34.029 --> 00:19:37.250 never automatically built into that word, solo. 00:19:39.269 --> 00:19:42.509 The object receiving the action, the object being 00:19:42.509 --> 00:19:45.410 plucked, being twanged, being vibrated is never 00:19:45.410 --> 00:19:48.009 automatically built in or baked into the word. 00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:51.750 What you got to do is you got to look carefully 00:19:51.750 --> 00:19:55.309 at the context. Again, you got to go back and 00:19:55.309 --> 00:19:58.710 look at the context to discover what object is 00:19:58.710 --> 00:20:00.930 being plucked, twanged, or vibrated. So let's 00:20:00.930 --> 00:20:05.009 go and do that in Ephesians 519. You know, it 00:20:05.009 --> 00:20:07.450 tells us here again that we're to speak to ourselves 00:20:07.450 --> 00:20:09.609 in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It says 00:20:09.609 --> 00:20:12.250 we're to sing and we're to make melody in our 00:20:12.250 --> 00:20:15.430 heart to the Lord. There's no guitar. There's 00:20:15.430 --> 00:20:18.910 no stringed instrument to be plucked, to be twanged. 00:20:20.470 --> 00:20:24.490 It only mentions singing and speaking and making 00:20:24.490 --> 00:20:27.440 melody in our heart. Think it's clear that it's 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.119 the vibration of our vocal cords that's associated 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.119 with singing from the heart. That's how we make 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:35.599 melody That's how we solo according to the context 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.640 of the passage So we can try to read these words 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:42.059 and read these passages and study these Greek 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:44.839 verbs and these Greek nouns and say that they 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:48.420 imply instruments Well, we the instruments are 00:20:48.420 --> 00:20:52.500 not there The instruments are not there And so 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:55.500 these objections fall short of proving that God 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:59.160 wants us to worship Him with instruments. Let's 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.460 move on in our lesson now. Now that we've considered 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:03.859 the original New Testament pattern for music, 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.940 we're going to do a brief survey and study of 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:10.339 church history to see how error slowly evolved 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:13.480 in the church concerning God's plan for music. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.740 Here are some facts we want to establish. The 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:21.059 church worshiped with acapella music for the 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:25.059 first 600 years of its history. For 600 years, 00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:27.619 all of God's people came together and they just 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:30.440 sang, just like we did tonight. And that testimony 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.339 of early church history is very, very clear. 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:36.880 600 years of a cappella singing. In fact, the 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:39.940 word a cappella comes from a Latin word, which 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:42.160 means in the church chapel. When you hear people 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.079 talk about a cappella singing, it's talking about 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:47.380 the singing of the church or the singing of the 00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:49.920 chapel, which for 600 years of church history. 00:21:50.859 --> 00:21:54.119 was singing without the use of instrumental music. 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:58.220 Now I want to just briefly show you some proof 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:01.640 of this as I go back and refer to some of the 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:05.220 early church fathers and different teachers in 00:22:05.220 --> 00:22:07.839 the church through history which spoke to the 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.779 type of music that they had in their time in 00:22:11.779 --> 00:22:14.640 the churches. This is Clement of Alexandria in 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.880 202 AD. He wrote this. He said, Leave the pipe 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.339 to the shepherd, the flute to the superstitious 00:22:20.339 --> 00:22:23.359 men who are engrossed in idol worship. Such instruments 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:26.640 must be excluded, he said. We make use of one 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:29.019 instrument alone, the word of peace by which 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:31.920 we honor God. So there's an early third century 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.559 church leader saying, we don't worship with instruments 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.440 of music. We just use our voice that God gave 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:41.400 us to worship Him. Eusebius of Caesarea around 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:45.339 the year 300 A .D. Eusebius was a historian. 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:49.940 He recorded a lot of history the first 400 years 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:52.660 of the church. He did that on behalf. He was 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:55.039 a devout Christian, but he recorded that history 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.579 for the Roman Empire and its leaders. And this 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:00.660 is what Eusebius said about music in the church 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:03.819 in his time. He says, of old among the Jews, 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:06.279 it was not inappropriate to send up hymns to 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.779 God with the psaltery and the sithera. It's an 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:15.539 ancient guitar -like musical instrument. He says, 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:18.880 but we render our hymn with a living psaltery 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:23.220 and a living sithera with spiritual songs. This 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:25.099 is Eusebius saying, you know, the Jews used to 00:23:25.099 --> 00:23:27.099 worship God with instruments, but we as Christians 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:31.339 don't do that. We just sing to God. John Chrysostom 00:23:31.339 --> 00:23:35.880 in 397 AD, he wrote this, David formerly sang 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:40.460 songs. Also we sing today with him. He had a 00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:43.500 lyre with lifeless strings or a harp with lifeless 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:46.500 strings. The church has a lyre or a harp with 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:50.039 living strings. Our tongues are the strings of 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:53.490 this lyre. Again, all the way to about 400 AD, 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:56.690 the testimony of early church history is that 00:23:56.690 --> 00:23:59.589 they just sang songs to God and didn't use instruments 00:23:59.589 --> 00:24:02.990 of music. But eventually we come to a point in 00:24:02.990 --> 00:24:05.910 church history where instruments became slowly 00:24:05.910 --> 00:24:09.529 added into the worship of God in the church. 00:24:09.970 --> 00:24:13.269 Around the year about 650, middle of the seventh 00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:16.529 century, some of the very first pipe organs were 00:24:16.529 --> 00:24:18.710 introduced into some Roman Catholic churches. 00:24:19.309 --> 00:24:22.170 However, history tells us that their use was 00:24:22.170 --> 00:24:25.809 somewhat rare, it was very controversial, and 00:24:25.809 --> 00:24:29.170 it was not widely accepted when it first began 00:24:29.170 --> 00:24:32.509 to be introduced in 650 AD. It would take about 00:24:32.509 --> 00:24:38.869 another 600 years, another 600 years before the 00:24:38.869 --> 00:24:41.450 organ was commonly used and accepted in most 00:24:41.450 --> 00:24:45.700 churches by about 1300 AD. It's interesting to 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:48.079 note, however, that the Eastern Greek Orthodox 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:54.359 churches resisted the change to instrumental 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:57.960 music in the church, and they never adopted instrumental 00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:00.440 music at all in their churches. I believe to 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:04.220 this day, the Greek Eastern Orthodox Church still 00:25:04.220 --> 00:25:09.779 sings a cappella. So, slowly over a period of 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:15.539 1 ,300 years, primarily from 650 AD to 1300 AD, 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:18.240 instruments were slowly added into the worship 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:21.339 of God. However, like I mentioned, it was very 00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:26.099 controversial and many people in the church opposed 00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:29.980 this change, this departure, this deviation away 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:33.450 from God's original plan for singing. They oppose 00:25:33.450 --> 00:25:35.670 the addition of these instruments of music. Now, 00:25:35.670 --> 00:25:38.730 I'm just going to give you a sampling of a few 00:25:38.730 --> 00:25:41.470 of their disputes and their opposition to this 00:25:41.470 --> 00:25:45.289 practice. John of Salisbury around the year 1159 00:25:45.289 --> 00:25:48.170 A .D. He wrote this. He said, When you hear the 00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:50.970 organs and the voices, you might think yourself 00:25:50.970 --> 00:25:53.930 in a theater rather than a church. He didn't 00:25:53.930 --> 00:25:55.890 think very highly of the instruments at all. 00:25:55.950 --> 00:25:58.190 He said it was almost like being in a theater 00:25:58.190 --> 00:26:02.410 rather in a church. Thomas Aquinas probably the 00:26:02.410 --> 00:26:05.690 foremost Catholic theologian of the Middle Ages 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:09.430 in 1270 AD. Now this is coming to around the 00:26:09.430 --> 00:26:12.490 year 1300 when the organs were becoming very 00:26:12.490 --> 00:26:15.710 very common in Catholic churches. But yet look 00:26:15.710 --> 00:26:18.710 at what Thomas Aquinas wrote. He said in the 00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:21.930 old law God was praised both with musical instruments 00:26:21.930 --> 00:26:24.890 and human voices. He said but the church does 00:26:24.890 --> 00:26:28.200 not use musical instruments to praise God. Even 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.339 as Thomas Aquinas sees all the churches slowly 00:26:31.339 --> 00:26:35.779 bringing in pipe organs. He still writes That 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:38.140 the church doesn't use instruments of music or 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:40.039 shouldn't use instruments of music to praise 00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:43.440 God John Calvin the founder of reformed theology 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:48.299 and the doctrine of Calvinism A lot of modern 00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:51.420 -day churches such as Presbyterian Church have 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:53.259 their roots back to the teaching and doctrine 00:26:53.259 --> 00:26:56.430 of Calvin Calvin wrote this musical instruments 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:58.690 and celebrating the praises of God would be no 00:26:58.690 --> 00:27:00.769 more suitable than the burning of incense, the 00:27:00.769 --> 00:27:03.569 lighting of lamps and the restoration of other 00:27:03.569 --> 00:27:07.769 shadows of the law. So even Calvin himself was 00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:10.529 opposed to Christians worshiping God with instruments. 00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:13.670 Yet a lot of the churches that were founded on 00:27:13.670 --> 00:27:16.349 Calvin's doctrine and theology worship God with 00:27:16.349 --> 00:27:22.140 instruments today. John Wesley. in the 1750s. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:25.319 He's quoted by Clark as saying, I have no objection 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:28.220 to instruments of music in our chapels provided 00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:32.099 they are neither heard nor seen. He said, I don't 00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:34.019 have any problem with instruments of music in 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:35.900 the church as long as we don't have to see them 00:27:35.900 --> 00:27:39.680 or hear them. John Wesley and his brother Charles 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:43.559 are considered the founders of modern -day Methodism. 00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:47.180 The Methodist church has its roots back to the 00:27:47.180 --> 00:27:49.809 Wesley brothers. To my knowledge, the Methodist 00:27:49.809 --> 00:27:52.730 Church today worships God with instruments, although 00:27:52.730 --> 00:27:57.369 their founders have this to say about it. Charles 00:27:57.369 --> 00:28:01.029 Spurgeon, a prolific preacher of the 19th century, 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:03.849 considered one of the maybe the greatest Baptist 00:28:03.849 --> 00:28:06.609 preachers who ever lived. Here's what he said. 00:28:07.250 --> 00:28:09.490 He said, When Jesus gives us spiritual food, 00:28:10.150 --> 00:28:12.690 one can make melody without strings and pipes. 00:28:12.750 --> 00:28:14.990 We do not need them. He says, Sing unto him. 00:28:15.309 --> 00:28:18.420 This is the sweetest and best music. No instrument 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:23.259 like the human voice. Most Baptist churches today 00:28:23.259 --> 00:28:25.720 worship God with instruments of music, despite 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:28.039 the fact that Spurgeon said, you know, we don't 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:31.700 need them. Just sing unto him. That's the best 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:36.180 music of all. So, this is just the testimony 00:28:36.180 --> 00:28:38.299 of men. And again, I don't want you to misunderstand 00:28:38.299 --> 00:28:41.259 me. Our authority does not come from men. Our 00:28:41.259 --> 00:28:43.440 authority comes from the Word of God. But I'm 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.690 just showing you this to help you see. That down 00:28:46.690 --> 00:28:49.470 through history what we see today is so common 00:28:49.470 --> 00:28:52.250 that many many churches worship God with instruments 00:28:52.250 --> 00:28:54.869 of music It has not always been that way in fact 00:28:54.869 --> 00:28:58.349 It wasn't that way for 1300 years and even after 00:28:58.349 --> 00:29:01.150 instruments came into the church many notable 00:29:01.150 --> 00:29:03.589 theologians and teachers and even the founders 00:29:03.589 --> 00:29:07.390 of denominational churches Opposed the practice 00:29:07.390 --> 00:29:11.549 that is so common today Now let's move forward 00:29:11.549 --> 00:29:16.500 to our modern -day practice As we look and consider 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:19.559 music in Christianity today, as it's offered 00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:21.960 in many different churches, what things do we 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:24.960 see? Well, unfortunately and sadly, we see many 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:29.700 churches today who offer entertainment, but they 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:33.079 market it as worship to God. When at its core, 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:35.220 it's really nothing more than entertainment. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:38.700 You know, we need to be reminded about worship 00:29:38.700 --> 00:29:41.920 and what it really is. Worship is us giving to 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:46.880 God that which pleases Him. Worship is us giving 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:51.400 to God that which pleases him Entertainment is 00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:55.000 different than worship Entertainment is us giving 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:58.680 to us what pleases us and I'm not against entertainment 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:00.960 There's a time and a place for good godly wholesome 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:04.059 entertainment But listen, we need to be careful. 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:06.180 We don't confuse worship with entertainment because 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:08.900 there's a big difference Worship is us giving 00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:11.180 to God what he wants entertainment is us giving 00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:14.529 us what we want It might be hard for you to see 00:30:14.529 --> 00:30:18.250 that image, but that was from a recent church 00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:21.269 assembly in a mega church in Plano, Texas, where 00:30:21.269 --> 00:30:24.789 as part of this concert -like performance, they 00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:28.849 had drummers that rappelled like 100 feet from 00:30:28.849 --> 00:30:31.210 the ceiling of this church to play their drums 00:30:31.210 --> 00:30:34.569 suspended over the audience when the lights and 00:30:34.569 --> 00:30:39.230 the smoke and... That's what we're talking about 00:30:39.230 --> 00:30:41.329 when we talk about entertainment many churches 00:30:41.329 --> 00:30:45.089 today market this and They say this is worship 00:30:45.089 --> 00:30:47.609 when it's easy for us to see at its core. It's 00:30:47.609 --> 00:30:53.029 nothing more than carnal entertainment Let's 00:30:53.029 --> 00:30:57.589 go to second Samuel 6 5 second Samuel 6 5 Bible 00:30:57.589 --> 00:31:00.769 tells us in the days of King David when David 00:31:00.769 --> 00:31:03.980 moved the ark of the Covenant There's a lesson 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:06.519 that we can learn from David when he moved the 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:09.799 Ark of the Covenant In connection with moving 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:12.059 the Ark of the Covenant the Bible says David 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:15.480 and all the house of the Lord prayed David and 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:17.960 all the house of Israel played before the Lord 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.720 on all manner of instruments made of fir wood 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:24.200 even on harps salt trees on timbrels on corn 00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:28.900 ants on cymbals a Lot of people today are drawn 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:30.839 to big churches that entertained because they 00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:35.299 put on a big show They put on a big show, and 00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:37.700 to some degree, we see David here putting on 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:40.700 a big show when he was moving the Ark of the 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:43.160 Covenant. All the instruments came out. David 00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:45.599 danced before the Ark, the Bible tells us. All 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.720 Israel came out to watch and witness this parade 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.440 -like concert, and all the instruments played, 00:31:51.500 --> 00:31:55.160 and David danced. And we'll visit the end of 00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:57.579 the story in just a few moments. We'll come back 00:31:57.579 --> 00:32:00.420 to it and learn the lesson that needs to be learned 00:32:00.420 --> 00:32:03.539 from that chapter. But as we look around us today 00:32:03.539 --> 00:32:06.019 something else we also see is that the faith 00:32:06.019 --> 00:32:08.119 of many people who call themselves Christians 00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:12.099 Has been founded on nothing more than dopamine 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:17.619 driven emotional experiences For a lot of people 00:32:17.619 --> 00:32:19.819 who call them Christians they have built their 00:32:19.819 --> 00:32:24.319 faith on an experience a dopamine driven experience 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:28.529 involving a huge auditorium With massive crowds 00:32:28.529 --> 00:32:31.690 right and loud music and bright lights and theatrical 00:32:31.690 --> 00:32:34.210 smoke and you know the band You know, it's the 00:32:34.210 --> 00:32:36.549 best band in town and it's up there playing and 00:32:36.549 --> 00:32:38.789 the music is loud and they they're playing the 00:32:38.789 --> 00:32:41.650 number one song on Christian radio and everyone's 00:32:41.650 --> 00:32:43.670 got their hands held high and everyone's shouting 00:32:43.670 --> 00:32:48.369 hallelujah and this this experience This dopamine 00:32:48.369 --> 00:32:52.269 driven experience. This is what many people have 00:32:52.269 --> 00:32:55.430 associated with and believe it means to be spiritual 00:32:56.259 --> 00:33:00.579 To be involved in an experience like this and 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:04.660 this is what they need To have their relationship 00:33:04.660 --> 00:33:07.059 with God they need this type of experience. They 00:33:07.059 --> 00:33:10.640 found their faith on emotional experiences because 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:13.500 after all an event like this That's the place 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:15.559 to be. That's the main event. That's the big 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:19.259 show a Lot of people a lot of Christians have 00:33:19.259 --> 00:33:23.079 built their faith on this big show Here's what 00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:24.880 I want to tell you and I'm we're gonna see this 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.119 by going back to 2nd Samuel chapter 6 God does 00:33:28.119 --> 00:33:30.980 not always attend the big show and God does not 00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:35.680 always approve of the big show If the big show 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:39.720 involves worship that doesn't please him The 00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:42.000 whole world could like it and it don't matter 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.720 if it doesn't please God if it's not acceptable 00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:47.660 to him He's not gonna approve of that big show. 00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:51.049 He's not gonna attend the big show We know that 00:33:51.049 --> 00:33:53.569 for what happened in second Samuel chapter 6 00:33:53.569 --> 00:33:55.869 remember David was moving the ark the instruments 00:33:55.869 --> 00:33:58.329 were playing David was dancing you remember what 00:33:58.329 --> 00:34:00.789 happened Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark 00:34:00.789 --> 00:34:03.470 of God took hold of it for the oxen shook shook 00:34:03.470 --> 00:34:06.450 it and the anger of the Lord was kindled against 00:34:06.450 --> 00:34:10.130 Uzzah and God smote him there for his error and 00:34:10.130 --> 00:34:15.309 there he died by the ark They put on a big show 00:34:15.309 --> 00:34:22.920 God did not approve of their big show Their disregard 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:25.019 for God's word. They weren't moving the ark of 00:34:25.019 --> 00:34:28.260 God in the way that he had prescribed in the 00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:31.559 law and their disregard for his word made him 00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:34.760 very angry and And a man named Uza lost his life 00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:38.619 that day because he wasn't careful To do things 00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:42.780 God's way Folks we need to be careful to do things 00:34:42.780 --> 00:34:45.929 God's way when it comes to giving Him worship, 00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:49.170 when it comes to approaching Him and doing things 00:34:49.170 --> 00:34:51.170 for Him that are part of our faith doctrine and 00:34:51.170 --> 00:34:55.150 practice. Stories like this teach us we need 00:34:55.150 --> 00:34:58.650 to be extra careful. And we need to learn a lesson 00:34:58.650 --> 00:35:01.710 from Uzzah. We need to be careful about the type 00:35:01.710 --> 00:35:04.130 of worship we offer up to God because, you know, 00:35:04.289 --> 00:35:08.429 instrumental music, I like bluegrass music. I 00:35:08.429 --> 00:35:12.309 like bluegrass music. That's the type of music 00:35:12.309 --> 00:35:15.889 I love. And I love it so much, it'd be an easy 00:35:15.889 --> 00:35:18.070 jump for me to say, well, if I love it so much, 00:35:19.050 --> 00:35:21.190 God should love it as much as I do, and we'll 00:35:21.190 --> 00:35:23.269 just bring the bluegrass band in here on Sundays 00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:27.610 and just play bluegrass hymns to the Lord. That 00:35:27.610 --> 00:35:30.210 would seem right to me. On a certain level, that 00:35:30.210 --> 00:35:32.070 would seem very right to me, and that does seem 00:35:32.070 --> 00:35:34.989 right to many different religious people, to 00:35:34.989 --> 00:35:38.670 just give God the type of music we like. But 00:35:38.670 --> 00:35:40.630 you know what Proverbs 14 -12 says? It says, 00:35:40.690 --> 00:35:42.849 there's a way which seemeth right unto a man. 00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:45.280 There's all kinds of religious ways that seem 00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:47.619 right. Just seemed right for Uzzah to touch the 00:35:47.619 --> 00:35:51.539 ark. Just seemed right. There's a way which seemeth 00:35:51.539 --> 00:35:53.820 right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the 00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:58.699 ways of death. We look around us in the religious 00:35:58.699 --> 00:36:02.699 world today, and unfortunately, all too often, 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:05.340 worship becomes not about that which pleases 00:36:05.340 --> 00:36:08.659 God, but about what pleases us, what pleases 00:36:08.659 --> 00:36:12.849 me. And you know, that's not a new thing. It's 00:36:12.849 --> 00:36:15.070 an old thing. It goes all the way back, I believe, 00:36:15.230 --> 00:36:18.050 to Genesis chapter 4. In Genesis chapter 4, we 00:36:18.050 --> 00:36:20.369 read about two brothers, Cain and Abel, the sons 00:36:20.369 --> 00:36:23.469 of Adam and Eve. Both brothers, the Bible tells 00:36:23.469 --> 00:36:26.070 us, were worshipers of God. They both brought 00:36:26.070 --> 00:36:28.929 an offering to the Lord. They brought their sacrifices. 00:36:29.949 --> 00:36:32.210 Both brothers were worshipers of God. However, 00:36:32.510 --> 00:36:35.070 one brother's worship was accepted, Abel's worship. 00:36:35.469 --> 00:36:38.210 One brother's worship, Cain's worship, was rejected. 00:36:41.110 --> 00:36:43.449 Cain didn't give God what he wanted. He didn't 00:36:43.449 --> 00:36:47.349 give God what he'd asked for and The point is 00:36:47.349 --> 00:36:49.989 this you know what if we never sacrifice our 00:36:49.989 --> 00:36:53.849 will in any way shape or form In order to embrace 00:36:53.849 --> 00:36:56.349 God's will that might be a good sign that our 00:36:56.349 --> 00:36:58.789 worship like Cain's might not be acceptable to 00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:02.110 God We got to be willing to sacrifice our will 00:37:02.110 --> 00:37:06.090 what we want what we think is nice To be able 00:37:06.090 --> 00:37:09.500 to take hold of embrace and offer God the type 00:37:09.500 --> 00:37:12.920 of worship that's acceptable to him. You in Genesis 00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:15.820 4 -3, in the process of time it came to pass 00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:17.719 Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering 00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:21.679 unto the Lord, but Cain, unto his offering, but 00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:24.840 unto Cain, unto his offering, God had not respect. 00:37:25.820 --> 00:37:28.079 And Cain was very raw, he was very angry in his 00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:31.440 countenance, his attitude fell. God did not accept 00:37:31.440 --> 00:37:35.159 Cain's offering, Cain's worship, and God does 00:37:35.159 --> 00:37:42.730 not accept self -serving worship today. So we've 00:37:42.730 --> 00:37:45.050 talked about God's original plan for music what 00:37:45.050 --> 00:37:48.030 he wants music to be in the church We've talked 00:37:48.030 --> 00:37:51.150 about how down through the ages of church history 00:37:51.150 --> 00:37:54.889 man has strayed away from God's original plan 00:37:54.889 --> 00:37:57.769 for music in the church and we've tried to take 00:37:57.769 --> 00:38:02.230 an honest assessment of Music in churches today. 00:38:02.230 --> 00:38:04.090 The last thing we're going to do is we're going 00:38:04.090 --> 00:38:09.030 to talk about how we restore That original pattern 00:38:09.030 --> 00:38:12.500 how we get back to giving God the type of music 00:38:12.500 --> 00:38:15.440 that He wants, right? That's what we want to 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:18.900 do. If we're going to restore God's pattern for 00:38:18.900 --> 00:38:20.820 music in the church, we're going to have to go 00:38:20.820 --> 00:38:24.380 back to simply singing music without the use 00:38:24.380 --> 00:38:27.420 of musical instruments. Because as we've already 00:38:27.420 --> 00:38:30.519 seen, those instruments are not authorized by 00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:33.219 the New Testament Scriptures. If we want to worship 00:38:33.219 --> 00:38:36.760 God like the church Jesus built, And that's what 00:38:36.760 --> 00:38:38.719 we're striving to do. We're going to have to 00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:40.960 pay close attention to the New Testament and 00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:43.579 what it teaches concerning the pattern of music. 00:38:44.099 --> 00:38:46.440 And we read these scriptures earlier in the lesson. 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:50.039 And the pattern is true. It's consistent. The 00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:52.860 pattern is singing music, singing music. James 00:38:52.860 --> 00:38:56.559 5 13 singing music. First Corinthians 14, Hebrews 00:38:56.559 --> 00:39:00.360 13. The pattern is singing over and over again 00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:03.219 as we go through these scriptures. Every scripture 00:39:03.219 --> 00:39:05.320 in the New Testament which speaks to the type 00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:08.440 of music God wants in the church It speaks of 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:11.340 singing music and I'll remind you again. None 00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:13.159 of the scriptures in the New Testament which 00:39:13.159 --> 00:39:16.380 speak To the music God wants in the church speak 00:39:16.380 --> 00:39:21.000 to playing of music If we're going to restore 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:25.059 God's original pattern For music in the church 00:39:25.059 --> 00:39:26.860 here. Here's an attitude. We're going to have 00:39:26.860 --> 00:39:31.010 to cultivate in our hearts It's not just about 00:39:31.010 --> 00:39:34.230 getting back to doing all the right things. Okay 00:39:34.230 --> 00:39:38.989 doing the right things is important But you know 00:39:38.989 --> 00:39:41.849 Jesus is looking for God is looking for true 00:39:41.849 --> 00:39:44.429 worshipers who will worship what in spirit and 00:39:44.429 --> 00:39:48.230 in truth We can worship in truth. We could do 00:39:48.230 --> 00:39:50.309 all the right things in our worship. We could 00:39:50.309 --> 00:39:53.409 sing to God That's a that's worshiping in truth. 00:39:53.409 --> 00:39:55.849 That's worshiping according to the Word of God 00:39:55.849 --> 00:39:58.909 But if we're not worshiping in spirit What's 00:39:58.909 --> 00:40:02.190 the point? We need to be very sincere in our 00:40:02.190 --> 00:40:04.110 worship. We need to cultivate the right heart, 00:40:04.150 --> 00:40:06.929 mind, and attitude about the music we give to 00:40:06.929 --> 00:40:09.230 God. And here's a part of that attitude we need 00:40:09.230 --> 00:40:14.289 to cultivate. We can take joy. I think we should 00:40:14.289 --> 00:40:17.710 take joy in the music that we give to God in 00:40:17.710 --> 00:40:24.289 the church. But the source of that joy, the place 00:40:24.289 --> 00:40:28.250 that that joy comes from is this. We need to 00:40:28.250 --> 00:40:31.630 have an attitude that says God If I've given 00:40:31.630 --> 00:40:34.110 you what you've wanted what you've asked for 00:40:34.110 --> 00:40:37.590 for music, and it's made you happy Lord Then 00:40:37.590 --> 00:40:42.730 I can be happy knowing I've made you happy Okay 00:40:42.730 --> 00:40:47.070 Lord I can take joy in this offering of praise 00:40:47.070 --> 00:40:51.449 if I know that you take joy in the praise that 00:40:51.449 --> 00:40:56.559 I've given you I do believe we can take joy in 00:40:56.559 --> 00:40:58.159 our worship. I don't believe we have to come 00:40:58.159 --> 00:41:00.900 here like robots and we have to just sing the 00:41:00.900 --> 00:41:03.639 songs and not show any type of joy, any type 00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:06.739 of emotion, any type of feeling whatsoever. I 00:41:06.739 --> 00:41:09.239 believe there's great joy to be found in singing 00:41:09.239 --> 00:41:12.840 praises to God. But it's not a joy that comes 00:41:12.840 --> 00:41:15.900 from... it sounds so good to me and we hit all 00:41:15.900 --> 00:41:18.519 the notes just right and the four -part harmony 00:41:18.519 --> 00:41:20.659 was great and you know I wish we would have recorded 00:41:20.659 --> 00:41:22.500 that because we could have sold a million copies 00:41:22.500 --> 00:41:26.500 of that and that's not where the joy comes from 00:41:26.500 --> 00:41:30.659 the joy should come from knowing that we gave 00:41:30.659 --> 00:41:34.880 God what he wants and that he is accepted and 00:41:34.880 --> 00:41:38.099 that he is pleased with our worship and Lord 00:41:38.099 --> 00:41:41.360 if you're pleased with it we can be pleased with 00:41:41.360 --> 00:41:45.849 it Worship is us giving to God what pleases him. 00:41:45.909 --> 00:41:48.630 So let's try to be faithful in doing that. Let's 00:41:48.630 --> 00:41:52.510 give God what he's asked for He's asked us to 00:41:52.510 --> 00:41:55.929 sing music to him. Let's do just that nothing 00:41:55.929 --> 00:41:59.989 more and nothing less Let's put our faith and 00:41:59.989 --> 00:42:02.409 trust in God's Word. You know faith is trusting 00:42:02.409 --> 00:42:05.949 that God's Word is best Despite what I think 00:42:05.949 --> 00:42:09.889 what I feel what I want faith is trusting that 00:42:09.889 --> 00:42:12.469 what God feels what he thinks what he wants is 00:42:12.469 --> 00:42:15.929 best and I just need to follow his word and Give 00:42:15.929 --> 00:42:19.250 him what he wants and trust that he is pleased 00:42:19.250 --> 00:42:22.550 So let's do our very best to to do just that 00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:24.670 to have that type of heart to have that type 00:42:24.670 --> 00:42:27.610 of attitude Let's do our very best to restore 00:42:27.610 --> 00:42:30.550 the type of music. God wants in the assemblies 00:42:30.550 --> 00:42:31.309 of the church