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Worship From the Word, Part 2 · CCC West Covina

0:00
To quickly review, we talked about worship.
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What is worship? We defined it most simply as a
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right response to revelation. Right?
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And each of those things are crucial.
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First, there has to be revelation.
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There has to be truth from God. Second, I have to respond.
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And 3rd, that response has to be right according to what God has
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said. We talked about the requirements
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for biblical worship. First is regeneration.
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You have to be saved. You have to be a believer in the
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Lord Jesus Christ and belong to the Church of God.
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You have to worship, as John 424 says, in spirit from within me,
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with the right heart, attitude, with love, and with reverence.
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And I have to worship in truth, according to His Word, according
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to all that He has revealed, to the directions that He has given
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us. We talked about from Deuteronomy
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chapter 10. What does the right response
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look like? And we talked about 5 things
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that Deuteronomy 10 shows us. A right response to God involves
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in awe of God. It's a reverence for him.
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It involves an allegiance to his ways.
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It's a life of commitment and submission to him.
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It's an affection for God. It's a love because we recognize
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that he has loved us, which such a great love and inexpressible
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love. 4th A right response involves activity for God's
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worship. It involves service through the
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duties that God has given us. And 5th, The right response of
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worship requires an adherence to God's will.
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It requires an obedience to the specific commands that He gives.
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We talked about last week about how God cares about proper
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worship and how Scripture contains many warnings for us to
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heed. Scripture warns US against
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unauthorized worship, which neglects truth, which neglects
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the character of God, and which neglects the directions that He
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has given us. And Scripture warns US against
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unclean worship, worship that does not have a correct
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attitude, with both reverence and love, realizing that He is
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holy and He will be treated as holy.
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We use Leviticus 10 with the death of the sons of the priest
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Aaron as an example. Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel's
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offerings. We talked about Acts 5, Ananias
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and Sapphira. We talked about what the Lord
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says in Psalm 50, warning His people the outward obedience was
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not enough, but they needed to have an inward obedience, an
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inward commitment and submission.
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And we talked about how do we heed these warnings?
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What is the way of worship? We talked about we must have
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regulated worship, which means it's regulated, it's defined and
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controlled by God's Word. And we must have reverent
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worship. We have must have worship that
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begins from the heart of understanding God's character,
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not Kim coming before him in a trivial way, in a thoughtless
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way, but a careful way, one that honors him and fears him as
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Scripture repeatedly commands us.
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And then we close with talking about Old Testament versus New
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Testament worship, right? The outward forms look very
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different, Old Testament and New Testament.
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And thankfully we don't have to follow all the laws that were
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laid down in the Old Testament. But we talked about how all the
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principles behind Old Testament worship were consistent with
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what we do now. We talked about how the
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Levitical law, the ceremonial law showed the character and
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work of God. It showed the transcendence and
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holiness of God while at the same time reminding us He's
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gracious. He allows us to come near to His
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presence. It reminds us that we are
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separated from God because of our sinfulness and that we need
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to be forgiven, We need to be cleansed.
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We need our sins atoned for. And we cannot accomplish that,
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only God Himself can. The Old Testament taught us that
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God wants His people to be separate and that he has
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absolute authority over every area and every detail of life.
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When we look at the laws, Leviticus, Numbers and
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Deuteronomy, they set Israel apart and even such thing as
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conduct clothing and food to keep them separate from being
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defiled from the by the sins of the world and to keep them
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distinct as a people who are possessed by God, who represent
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him well. And so we talked about how those
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principles are still true for us today.
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God has the same desires. He has the same intention for
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the guidelines that he's given us.
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And so as we start tonight, tonight's conversation is going
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to be a little more just that a little more free.
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We began with all of the the the commands, right?
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We know what God commands in worship.
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We know what he requires, what he expects.
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And as we move through, we're going to move to wisdom, we're
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going to move to principles, we're going to move to the
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things that we want to think about as we think about singing
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and music, and we'll get there. As we begin, we want to touch
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on, of course, worship with the body because we just finished,
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remember, last week, everything came to the one point that
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remind us worship is life. There's nothing in my life that
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is not worship. And so Romans 12/1 says I am to
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offer myself. I am the sacrifice.
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I am both the priest giving offerings to God for his
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pleasure, and I am also the offering that's continually
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offered to him for his pleasure. And so there's nothing in my
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life that is exempt. There's nothing in my life that
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is not dedicated as worship. But with clarity and with common
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sense, we know there's something special.
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There's something that God has commanded here when we meet
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together, and that's worship with His body, the church.
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You know, the command in Hebrews chapter 10.
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In fact, why don't we just turn there briefly, Hebrews 10.
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If somebody ever talks to you and they express a reluctance to
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be with the people of God, maybe they cite past difficulties or
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past ways that they've been hurt or misled and so they've lost
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their trust in the church and the leadership of God of God's
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people. This is the first place we have
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to take him. It says in verse 23 of Hebrews
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chapter 10. Let us hold fast the confession
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of our hope without wavering for he who promised this faithful,
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remember, just got done talking about Christ was the atonement.
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He completed and fulfilled everything in the Old Testament.
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Now you have access to God's presence to the most holy place,
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as it were, because of Jesus. He's brought you near.
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And so the author of Hebrews is going on to say, let's draw
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near. Let's hold fast to our hope
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without wavering, without looking back, without being
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weak, because God's faithful and directly connected to that in
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verse 24, he says, and let us consider how to stimulate one
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another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling
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together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
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another in all the Moors. You see the day drawing near.
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So everything about our salvation leads us to the
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church. It leads us to being part of the
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body of Christ. Ephesians talks about how we
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were all made part of that. If you're saved, you're given
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the Holy Spirit and you are made a part of the church, OK, in a
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way that cannot be broken, that cannot be taken away.
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And the author of Hebrews gives the command, don't forsake,
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don't forsake our assembling together because it's God's
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command and it's God's plan. If we look at Romans chapter 12,
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if you'll turn there, remember we did, we talked about Romans
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12, verse one, offering myself as a living sacrifice.
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Immediately after that, the very next section is talking about
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spiritual gifts. It's talking about being
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connected with the people of God.
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It's talking about serving when God's people meet together.
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So the biblical command and the assumption all throughout
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Scripture is that God's people must and they will gather
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together. It's a natural thing, it's a
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commanded thing, but naturally, if you're really saved, you will
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make a priority the meeting and the Church of God.
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So again, we have worship as an individual.
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I'm a living sacrifice, and we have worship as a church.
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That's something special. God has designed the body of
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Christ to be united and to build itself up through the Word by
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the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit.
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Now, when I look at worship in my life personally, and I look
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at worship with the church, there's going to be a lot of
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overlap. There's going to be a lot of
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similar things. OK, But that just that
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underlines the fact that we should be the same people during
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the week and on Sundays. We should be the same people
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with my family or alone that I am.
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When I come to church and I meet together with the body of
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Christ, I should have the same heart attitude that leads me to
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obedience and service. And Scripture is clear.
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If you love God, you'll love others, beginning with the
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people of God. First Corinthians 13 talks about
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love, right? That's not about marital love
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primarily. The context before that is the
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church. It's using spiritual gifts, the
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way we serve. And then Paul goes on in First
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Corinthians 13 to talk about love guides that love motivates
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that the greatest commandments as Jesus sums up in Matthew 22
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or what love the Lord with everything you are and love your
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neighbor as yourself. Deuteronomy 6 and 10, it has the
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same connection. So our love for God, our worship
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of God, of God, will naturally lead us into worship with the
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church and a love for the church.
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In First Corinthians 14, right after it talks about love, Paul
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is dealing with selfishness in the practice of the church.
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The believers were trying to practice tongues in a
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counterfeit way because they wanted some recognition.
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They wanted to seem cool. They wanted to seem like they
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had something special. But Paul attacks that, he
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attacks that attitude, he attacks those motives, and he
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points out that everything that we do together is out of love
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and to strengthen the church. He says, what is the outcome
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then, brethren, when you assemble, you have a Psalm, you
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have a teaching, you have a revelation, you have a tongue,
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you have an interpretation. Let all be all things be done
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for education. Education, edification.
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Sorry, that's a hard word. Edification.
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So worship of God leads us into meeting with the church.
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When we look at Acts 242, it lists some of the specific
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things that the first church that early believers after
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Christ returned to heaven practiced.
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It says in Acts 242 they were continually devoting themselves
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to the apostles, teaching into fellowship, to the breaking of
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bread and a prayer. In verses later, it talks about
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giving and meeting needs. It talks about evangelism.
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Christ, of course, speaks of church discipline.
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But in all this, there's a consistency from what we're
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doing at home, and that leads into something special at
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church. And in everything we recognize
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that the truth is central. At home we will study the word
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of God. At home we will pray, at home we
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can sing. At home we have an attitude of
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fear towards God and love. And all those things are true at
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church. But God has given us the church
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and a special way to serve and to build one another's up.
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And so the Bible commands that we hear the word of the Lord.
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The truth is central. The Bible commands that we read
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Scripture, that we sing Scripture, that we pray, what
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Scripture says, that we give, that we have that same attitude
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of reverence. The Bible commands that we
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observe baptism and communion, and in every elements the truth
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of God's Word is central, and it draws us together.
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That's why in our church, the preaching is the preeminent part
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of the service. Not that nothing else matters,
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not that we want to downplay anything else, but the preaching
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is the place where you get the deepest expression and study of
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the truth. And so it's the time that is
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most devoted to, it's the time that's emphasized in corporate
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worship, while having some elements that are unique and
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special instructs us in the things that we should be
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practicing daily. So we want to see a consistency,
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if we're living a life of worship individually and
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personally, that will lead to a life of worship in the church,
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that will lead to an energy, to a love, to a service in the
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church. And so we draw these lines and
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connections to lay a foundation so that we can talk about
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singing. All right, I lead worship
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ministry. When you think of the word
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worship, you think of music for better, for worse.
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And that's not a wrong association, but everything that
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I've talked about previously was to remind us that worship is
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broader than that and that it's helpful for us to be careful how
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we use the word worship. What are we really talking
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about? Are we being confusing or do we
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really mean worship, which means my whole life devoted to God?
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And that means everything that happens here with us together is
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also worship because it hinges around God's Word and it's
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dictated about it. In your outline, we're going to
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talk about why do we sing? I'm going to go over those
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briefly. Some of these are taken from
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this book scene Sing. This is written by Keith and
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Kristen Getty. They're modern hymn writers of
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the church. Everything they write is
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wonderful. All their songs biblical.
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And so some of these points are from their book.
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There are five reasons why you need to sing.
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The first one is that we are created to sing.
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You were created to sing. No matter what you think of your
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musical ability, God made you to sing, MacArthur said.
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This music is the gift of God, a common grace to the world to
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give them a means of expressing their emotions.
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Music was made as a tool for people, and we were made from
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music. That's why music resonates with
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every person. It may in a different way, but
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it has a significance to every person and in every culture
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across the world. We're a relational response of
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beings. We're designed to respond, to be
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worshippers, and to express that response.
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You see that in sports. You see that in a response.
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When you see a natural wonder, something beautiful in nature,
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When we see a feat of strength or ability, or when we receive
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exciting or alarming news, we're responders.
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That's who God made us to be. And music is an Ave. of response
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that God created in US and for us.
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When we understand God's creation, it points back to his
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nature, right? It underlines the fact that God
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delights in beauty, that God creates beauty.
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He doesn't just make things to be functional.
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He makes things to be enjoyed and being made in his image.
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We enjoy what he enjoys and we we desire to enjoy things as
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well to appreciate beauty. It points us to the fact that
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beauty is not in the eye of the beholder.
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Beauty is not subjective. And that's kind of a
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conversation outside of tonight, outside the scope of tonight.
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But I would encourage you to think about that.
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God creates beauty. God defines beauty in creation.
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What does it say? Everything he made was good.
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God made the trees pleasing to the eye and good for food.
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And so we were created to engage in music.
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And music is unique because it doesn't just express or or allow
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us to feel or enjoy. It carries words with it.
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It communicates specifically. And the most thing, the most
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important thing that music can communicate, that it can carry
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is truth. And so I would encourage you to
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think about the fact that we are created to sing OK, someday in
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heaven you will sing well, you will sing perfectly, but for
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now, God created you to sing second, that we are commanded to
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OK, this is the easy one. All throughout the Psalms it
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says or sing to the Lord a new song for he has done wonderful
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things. Psalm 33 says sing for joy in
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the Lord. O you righteous ones, praise is
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becoming to the upright over and over and over.
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We are commanded to sing. That's pretty cut and dry,
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right? It's a command for us.
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It's not arbitrary. We're commanded to sing for our
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good because we were created to 3rd.
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We are compelled to sing. We as believers have an inward
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response to revelation that causes us to sing.
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Colossians 316 and 17, if you want to turn there and we'll
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stay. There is a crucial text for
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talking about singing in the New Testament, and it says that we
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sing with thankfulness in our hearts to God.
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Believers are compelled to sing because they have received a
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great salvation from a great God and they are overwhelmed by it.
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They were overcome by it. A motivation to sing is
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unchanging. We're motivated by the sacrifice
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of our Savior and the glory of God.
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Now something to distinguish is emotion and volition.
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OK, we talked before about a spirit and attitude of worship.
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Too often we get confused because we think singing and
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worship music should be about emotions.
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But that is not what worship is about because that makes it very
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man centered. What worship is about is a
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choice, is a response, is an attitude that I bring as a
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worshipper to exalt God. And therefore I can always have
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that same response regardless of how I feel, because how I feel
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is based on my circumstances. But my worship is not about how
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I feel. It's about my choice to respond.
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It's about me understanding the grace and glory of God and
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saying He is worthy. And I cannot help but sing and
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respond. John Piper said singing is the
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Christian's way. God is so great that thinking
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will not suffice, There must be deep feeling and talking will
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not suffice, there must be singing.
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So it's not that there's no emotion in worship.
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We can fall into one of two camps, thinking that emotional
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experience is everything or no emotion.
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I must sing. Intellectually, I wonder which
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way our church leans. But the truth is neither of
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those extremes. The truth is that worship and
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seeing is a response from my heart that's based on knowledge,
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knowing God, knowing what he's done, but comes out of a
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response that naturally wells up in my heart as I'm thankful for
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what I'm for, what God has done. And when I choose to praise,
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when I choose to obey and do what he's commanded by singing
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to him, by acknowledging, then my emotions are corralled, my
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emotions are corrected. Bob Coughlin, who is one of the
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leaders of the Sovereign Grace Ministries, we sing many of
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their songs. He says suppressing or ignoring
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your feelings when you sing contradicts what singing is
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designed to do. Passionless singing is an
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oxymoron. So the trick is, if my emotions,
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if my feelings aren't right when I come to sing, I can't be
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deterred by that. I have to choose to sing because
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I choose to respond to the revelation of God in a right
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way. And as I sing, as I'm reminded
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of who God is, what he's done, as I'm reminded of who I've
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become because of his work in my life, I will sing.
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I will be compelled inwardly, not outwardly, but I'll have a
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right response. So we sing because we're created
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to, because we're commanded to, we're compelled. 4th We sing
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because we're congregated to, because God says sing together,
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because there's a significance in the gathering.
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In Colossians 316 and 17 it says that we teach and admonish one
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another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
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So part of our instruction and our encouragement and our
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building up one another is singing to one another.
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It's singing with one another. We are congregated, we are
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gathered to sing, and there's a significance there.
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And if we're so focused on ourself and my experience, we
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forget. I'm gathered with the people of
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God for them. God put me here for them to
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benefit them. And of course, I'm corrected and
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convicted and encouraged as well.
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But my attitude should be thinking about the people around
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me. Years ago when Drew was here in
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youth ministry, Pastor Lance's son, before we went off to
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Indiana, they had a kind of a joke, a running gag that they
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would say in the youth group, right when they talk about the
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meeting of the church together and about singing, they would
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say, I just want to be served. I just want to be served, all
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right? Because that's the attitude that
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most of us come with. We come to church to be served.
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We come to church to gain something.
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But that that's not our attitude.
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That's not a biblical Worshipful attitude.
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Because I if I love God, then I love the people that I'm going
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to see on Sunday. And I think about how can I help
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them? How can I build them up?
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How can I encourage them even in the way that I'm singing when
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I'm standing next to them. And 5th, we are commissioned.
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Singing is a witness and it's designed by God.
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That way there is something powerful when the people of God
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sing together, united in spirit, united in truth, singing with
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vigor and with passion and with delight.
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Psalm 89.1 says. Psalm 89.1 says I will sing of
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the loving kindness of the Lord forever to all generations.
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I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.
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So singing is a witness. It's a call to believers and
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it's a call to unbelievers saying this is our God.
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This is the one who demands to be worshipped.
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So those are 5 reasons that we sing.
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And we ask, what must we sing? And here we start to get a
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little bit more specific. OK, we're going to get to it.
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We're going to have a discussion about what we sing.
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We're going to talk about content.
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If you look on the back of your outline, I put some lyrics
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there. All right.
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So what I enjoy doing when we talk about these things is
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saying let's just not talk about this.
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Let's analyze. Let's pick apart these songs.
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And so we're going to do that tonight and I'm going to ask you
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to do that and to evaluate these songs.
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But what must be sing Scripture is clear.
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You already there, hopefully in Colossians 3/16/17.
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This provides guidelines for what we must sing.
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At its core, what we must sing is the word.
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What we must sing is the truth. It must be biblically based,
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scripture filled, doctrinally rich songs.
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I've had conversations with people in schools and in other
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churches that they'll say, well, the songs you pick are just too
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wordy, or not everybody can understand these songs, or
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people don't know these songs because they're not on the
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radio. So why don't we pick something
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that's a little more mainstream, OK?
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It's a little more, it's a little more watered down, but we
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can serve these people by giving them something they already
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know. That's at a base level that
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different people from different churches can all agree on.
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But that's a compromise. And if you look at Scripture,
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you cannot deny that it says sing richly, OK, right here in
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verse 16 of Colossians 3, Let the word of Christ richly dwell
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within you, OK? So let God's Word be at home
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within your heart. Lance has talked about that.
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That's what the word dwells mean means that means it's always
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here. It's always in my mind.
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It's never far away. It's always what I'm thinking
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about. It's always in my life.
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I'm always thinking about it. I'm always drawn back to
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Scripture and it says, let it richly, abundantly, lavishly,
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overwhelmingly dwell within you. And then it goes on to say with
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wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and
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hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in
26:48
your hearts to God. So connected there is that one
26:53
of the major ways that we allow God's Word to richly be at home
26:57
in our hearts is through our singing.
27:00
And so there are 8 principles in your outline briefly that would
27:04
I'd like to illuminate from this verse.
27:07
OK, first is we must sing the word richly.
27:10
OK, abundantly, let it richly dwell within you.
27:15
We must sing the word #2 continually.
27:18
It says let it dwell within you. Let it be at home.
27:21
Don't stop it. It's got to keep going.
27:23
God's Word is always there. So we must sing the Word richly,
27:28
continually and wisely, it says, with all wisdom, understanding
27:33
the principles and the teaching of Scripture.
27:36
OK, there's a depth there, there's a thoughtfulness there.
27:40
There's an imparted wisdom from men who have studied God's Word
27:45
and given years of thought to it to help us.
27:49
It's why important that that we sing songs written by
27:51
theologians, not by artists. Richly, continually, wisely,
27:57
forth, instructively. We sing instructively.
28:01
That's how we learn. That's how we teach and admonish
28:04
or correct one another. Fifth, we sing diversely with
28:10
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
28:13
Those are just different types of songs.
28:15
Paul says here, and he says the same phrase in Ephesians 5, and
28:19
the significance is not in You must sing these three categories
28:23
of songs, but the significance is saying there are a variety of
28:28
songs that are filled with God's truth that benefit the church,
28:32
that you should sing Psalms, who likely refers to songs that are
28:36
Scripture, OK? They're the actual words of
28:39
Scripture. Hymns are songs that are
28:42
structured theologically, OK, So they explain a doctrine.
28:48
They use different parts of Scripture and bring it together
28:50
so we give a fuller understanding.
28:52
And spiritual songs can mean songs of testimony, songs of
28:57
response and expression. Although we always need to start
29:00
with God's revelation, there is a place for songs that give us
29:05
words to say how thankful we are to give us words to say how I'm
29:09
yearning for heaven. They give us words to say I
29:12
understand my mission now. So that's the significance.
29:17
We must sing diversely. Number six, we must sing.
29:19
Thankfully it says singing with thankfulness in your hearts to
29:23
God. 7th we must sing inwardly. In verse 17 it says whatever you
29:29
do in Word or deed, do all. Oh, I'm sorry.
29:34
In verse 16, inwardly it says singing with thankfulness in
29:37
your hearts to God. So the significance again is
29:40
that worship comes from the inside, the spirit, and then it
29:43
spills out. It's not only something we do
29:45
outside just to perform a task. And in verse 17 #8 is
29:51
submissively says whatever you do in Word or deed, do all in
29:54
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to him through God
29:58
the Father. So everything is about him.
30:02
Everything we sing is it's a mission to his truth and
30:05
recognizing everything should be aimed at Him.
30:08
Everything should magnify him. If I'm singing a song and it's
30:12
talking about me more than it's talking about Jesus, probably
30:15
not a good song. So those 8 principles are in the
30:18
text to help us understand and give us principles how we should
30:21
sing. In Ephesians chapter 5, verses
30:25
18 through 20, it's a parallel passage, but there it uses the
30:29
same language except that instead of richly dwelling God's
30:32
Word, it says be filled with the Spirit.
30:36
There's so much confusion in churches about what does it mean
30:38
to be filled and led by the Spirit.
30:40
People will teach all kinds of things, like it means talking in
30:43
gibberish, or falling on the floor, or convulsions, or this
30:46
or that, or receiving a revelation in your mind.
30:49
No, in Ephesians 5 all the same things result as in Colossians
30:56
3, which means letting God's Word richly dwell within you is
31:03
the same as being filled by the Spirit.
31:06
Does that make sense? Let's turn there.
31:10
Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18. Do not get drunk with wine, for
31:16
that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.
31:19
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
31:22
songs. All that sounds familiar.
31:24
Singing and making melody with your hearts of the Lord.
31:27
Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord
31:30
Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, and be subject to one
31:33
another. So when we let the word of
31:36
Christ dwell richly within us, then we sing and we're thankful.
31:41
When we let the Spirit fill and lead us, we sing and we're
31:46
thankful and we submit. It's the same things.
31:50
So it teaches us that when we let God's Word dwell richly
31:53
within us, we are being led by God's Spirit because the two
31:58
work in tandem. God's Spirit works with his Word
32:02
in order to change our lives and to make us like Christ.
32:10
So those are some principles from Colossians 3 more quickly
32:14
than I had planned. What happens when we sing three
32:18
things? Biblical songs exalt?
32:21
They exalt God, they lift him up, they put him on display #2
32:27
Biblical songs edify, they build up, they teach, and they
32:32
strengthen the church #3 biblical songs express.
32:40
They express our response to God.
32:45
Our emotion and our experience are shaped and sanctified by
32:49
God's truth so that we can express in a right way.
32:53
And we see all kinds of expressions modelled in
32:55
Scripture, uncertainty, but then it's guided by Scripture to a
33:01
place of faith. We see despair, but it's guided
33:06
by God's revelation to a place of trust.
33:10
We see sorrow over circumstances or sin, but we're guided by
33:15
God's revelation to a place of confession and of peace and of
33:19
trust. And so biblical songs do these
33:23
three things. They exalt, they edify, and they
33:27
express. This is what should happen when
33:30
we sing good songs. Not all kinds of other things.
33:36
But we can boil it down to that if we're singing rightly, then
33:40
in our church Christ is exalted, the church is built up, it's
33:44
edified, and we express a right response to who God is.
33:52
And the question then? Is will you then worship?
33:58
Will you then worship? Will you lead it in your family?
34:03
Will you teach your children about worship?
34:06
Not just about singing, but about the fact that worship is
34:09
life. That it's submission and
34:12
reverence to God. It's a response to Him.
34:19
I wanted to spend some time. Talking about issues tonight,
34:22
branching out, something a little more informal.
34:26
It's funny, you get up here and you don't know how long it's
34:29
going to take and then you realize you have enough material
34:31
for like 4 weeks. So we're going to.
34:34
Simplify a little bit. I really enjoy the conversations
34:38
that we have in the young and old Bible study.
34:41
It's called Impact, and they meet together every other Sunday
34:44
night and they always challenge me with thoughtful questions.
34:48
They always challenge me to be prepared.
34:50
A couple of years ago we did a study through every section of
34:54
theology. So that means we studied who God
34:57
is, who Christ is, the Holy Spirit.
34:59
We studied what is this, what are the scriptures?
35:02
We studied everything from angels to salvation to death to
35:07
heaven. We studied all these things and
35:09
it was so wonderful. The questions that would form
35:14
because right theology, right teaching leads to right living,
35:19
because the natural question is, OK, now that I know this, how
35:23
does this make an impact in my life?
35:26
How does this change and guide me in the way I live?
35:29
So we've talked about a lot of theological things and we've
35:32
talked about spirit and truth, but we want to boil it down and
35:36
I want to talk a little bit tonight about applying that
35:40
because it's our responsibility, first of all, to be wise and God
35:44
honoring in the way that we participate in church and also
35:50
in the music that we listen to, even though singing is just a
35:53
small part of it. Singing can become such a
35:56
controversy, and there's so many voices and false teachings out
36:00
there. When we talk about songs.
36:06
In church. There's always the battle,
36:10
right? New songs, old songs, familiar
36:13
songs, new songs. How do you make those decisions?
36:18
When we think through the. Principles that we've drawn from
36:21
Scripture. It becomes simple.
36:23
The significance of what we sing, either together in this
36:27
church or what I sing at home, is not in the style of music.
36:32
It's not in the instruments that are used.
36:35
The significance is not in the era that it was written.
36:40
It's not in the way it sounds. The significance of the songs
36:44
that we sing is about their content.
36:48
It's about truth. Are the songs that we sing and
36:52
we listen to filled with God's truth?
36:54
Because if they are, they will draw a right response from God's
36:58
people, from God's people who are ready to worship and are
37:02
living a life of worship. They will be ready to respond.
37:06
If we listen to or sing songs that are weak, that are vague,
37:12
OK, it will, it will help no one.
37:17
It's not going to draw anyone to worship.
37:19
It's not going to remind us of who God is.
37:22
It's not going to remind us of what he's done.
37:24
It's not going to remind us of our responsibility.
37:26
It's not going to nourish us in our spiritual walk and build us
37:29
up. It is not going to glorify God
37:32
because God's made it clear He is glorified in specificity, in
37:37
teaching, in understanding the fullness of his character.
37:41
And so we have to set aside all of the things that we prefer,
37:46
and we have to hold on to the one question What pleases God,
37:52
What honors God? When I first came to the.
37:57
Church music was very different here.
38:00
The worship ministry was very different.
38:02
It was organized around a choir and a piano and an organ, and
38:06
overtime that is all changed. But that's not because I have a
38:11
specific preference that changed out of necessity because we have
38:17
certain people in this church who play certain instruments and
38:21
who are willing to serve. And so because style is not
38:27
what's significant, the style musically of our church has
38:30
evolved over the years. And yes, I have say in that,
38:34
yes, I have leadership in that. And yes, you could say that I'm,
38:37
I'm probably biased and I like guitar music.
38:40
That's fine, but at the end of the day, my concern is what
38:43
honors God, what exalts Him and puts forth His truth, and what's
38:48
the best way that we can accomplish that.
38:51
And so we do that with the people that we have, that God
38:53
has provided, and the skills that they have.
38:57
Romans 14 is a really important passage.
39:00
We're talking about music because it helps us understand
39:03
Christian liberty. What Paul says in the Scripture
39:07
teaches in Romans 14 is that you should have convictions, you
39:13
should have wise reasons for what you do, and you should hold
39:16
fast to those convictions. But if it's not expressly
39:20
commanded in Scripture, then you cannot judge other believers.
39:23
If they differ, OK, if they prefer a different kind of
39:28
music. The examples in Romans 14 are in
39:32
eating and in practicing. For example, some people might
39:37
still practice the the festivals.
39:39
They might go to the to the Jewish festivals and be part of
39:41
that. Or some people might eat food
39:45
that was first offered to idols. So false worshippers, false
39:52
religions would offer food on the altar of their false gods
39:56
and then later they would sell it for cheap in the marketplace.
40:00
And so Paul is saying if you want to get a deal, it doesn't
40:04
matter because false gods and gods are nothing.
40:07
And food is food. So he's saying if you have a
40:10
conviction on these things and it's not expressly laid out in
40:12
scripture, if it's not guided and regulated by Scripture, have
40:16
a conviction. Have a wise reason based on
40:18
scripture and don't judge someone else if they have a
40:21
different conviction on that. But what we do need to have?
40:28
A unanimous conviction on is the.
40:31
Content is the truth. And tonight I wanted to spend a
40:34
couple of minutes talking about false teachers and churches in
40:40
music. OK, Basically today, everything
40:45
that calls itself Christian music and Christian culture is
40:49
not God honoring. It's not guided and regulated by
40:53
scripture. It is dictated and designed and
40:57
invented by people in there for a lot of it is not helpful and a
41:04
lot of. It is downright.
41:05
Dangerous. In 2nd Corinthians 11.
41:10
Verses 13 Thrift through 15. It says such men, these false
41:13
teachers, are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising
41:17
themselves as apostles of Christ.
41:19
No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an Angel of
41:23
light. Therefore, it is not surprising
41:25
if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of
41:28
righteousness whose end will be according to their deeds.
41:32
And so tonight I wanted to make you aware of some things that we
41:35
need to be careful of. When you look at Christian music
41:38
on the radio and the things that are most popular in other
41:41
churches, the majority of it centers around a couple false
41:45
churches and false teachers. OK, one is Hillsong Prosperity
41:49
Church. OK, it's all about making money.
41:53
God does this for me. It's man centered idolatry.
41:57
God is there to bless me and to give me what I think I need.
42:00
And you've seen their music. They don't want to talk about
42:02
sin. Hey, they don't want to talk
42:04
about that. They talk about God helping
42:06
their sense of shame and their weaknesses.
42:09
They're not concerned with holiness, but they're concerned
42:11
with emotional and material fulfillment.
42:15
Another. False church.
42:16
False gospel is Elevation Church, Elevation Worship with
42:20
Stephen Furtick. OK?
42:22
They don't teach anything that's in line with the gospel.
42:26
And the danger is they have little snippets of truth.
42:30
So you hear a song or you hear a 32nd clip of them teaching and
42:34
you think, oh, that's not awful. I thought they were all awful.
42:38
But that's how false teachers work.
42:41
They just don't dump a bunch of bogus on you.
42:44
They have little Nuggets of weak truth, OK, but they fill in the
42:50
majority with false teaching. They corrupt the nature of God.
42:54
They corrupt the nature of Christ.
42:56
They corrupt the work on the cross.
42:58
They don't speak about sin and God's holiness.
43:03
Everything is man centered. One of the most dangerous
43:08
churches and sources today is Bethel.
43:12
They're led, the main church is led by a husband and wife
43:15
couple, pastors Brian and Jen Johnson.
43:19
They teach a false gospel, no repentance, and they have an
43:23
overt plan for worldly influence.
43:25
And I call them a cult because their teachings are so extreme,
43:30
OK? And when I study this, it's
43:33
scary. It's terrifying that there's
43:36
somebody who claims to be a Church of God and yet teaches
43:39
these things. So I wanted to make you aware of
43:41
it. They practice mystical,
43:43
blatantly occultic practices. OK, they teach and talk about
43:48
waking sleeping angels of power. They teach that God always wants
43:53
to. Heal and raise the dead.
43:56
They teach that you can receive and.
43:58
Reclaim anointings and mantels of power from the graves of dead
44:02
people. They claim that gold dust and
44:05
Angel feathers appear during their services.
44:08
They practice soaking prayer, which means you clear your mind
44:12
and you attempt to feel God's presence like a tingling skin or
44:15
a hot or cold sensation or a gentle wind blowing through your
44:18
body. Their words.
44:21
They have their own translation called the.
44:22
Passion translation, which is 50% longer than your Bible
44:27
because so much new is inserted regardless of what the original
44:30
text says. It is an entirely rewritten and
44:33
changed book, they claim. That Christians can.
44:36
See into the spiritual realm and become Mystics and seers.
44:40
They've taught that Jesus lost his deity entirely at the
44:43
incarnation and that he was incapable of anything on his
44:46
own. That he was no longer God, that
44:48
he no longer had the attributes of God.
44:50
That he received an anointing of magic power at his baptism, and
44:54
that you can receive a similar anointing like that if you pray
44:58
and you have the right faith. They have a school of
45:01
supernatural ministry where in their words, students will learn
45:04
how to read, understand, and do the Bible.
45:08
OK, how to practice His presence, how to witness, how to
45:12
heal the sick, prophecy, preach, pray, cast out demons, and much
45:17
more. The controversy in the last
45:20
couple years. Is that they encourage their
45:22
church to pray for the resurrection of a 2 year old
45:25
girl who died who was the daughter of a worship leader.
45:27
And they prayed saying if we pray and believe hard enough,
45:30
God will resurrect her. So they are people who have
45:34
taken the name of Christ and taken all these mystical,
45:37
satanic, occultic practices and just mashed them together.
45:41
And we need to be aware of this because when you hear one of
45:44
their songs, we don't understand all of that.
45:48
They'll even take some hymns like it is well and do their own
45:51
version and you listen to it and you're like, oh, that's, that's
45:53
not awful. They were good singers.
45:56
They're good musicians, but they lead you away from the truth and
46:03
they are false teachers and they are deceptive and they are
46:06
dangerous and the. Unfortunate thing is that.
46:10
So much in Christian worship is directly associated with them,
46:14
and if people associate with these people, if they spend time
46:16
with them and teach with them and sing at their churches and
46:18
write songs with them, it shows a lack of discernment, lack of
46:21
truth, or possibly a lack of true salvation.
46:25
So there's names like Cody Carnes, Brandon Lake, now
46:28
Fiddle. Wickham does everything with
46:30
Bethel. We know in scripture it.
46:33
Says. Who you spend time with, you
46:36
will become like them. In First Corinthians, Paul was
46:40
dealing with some of the church who associated with false
46:42
teachers who denied resurrection at all of the body.
46:46
And that he said associating with false teachers always leads
46:49
us astray. It leads to a weakening of our
46:51
conviction and our commitment to live a holy life.
46:54
In 1533 of First Corinthians it says don't be deceived, Bad
46:58
company corrupts good morals, become sober minded, become
47:01
clear minded, have clarity because you have it from God's
47:04
word as you ought and stop sinning for some have no
47:08
knowledge of God and I speak this to your shame.
47:12
So he's saying have a clear mind, don't be clouded, don't be
47:15
confused, don't have a mind that's like it's drunk, like
47:18
it's unthinking. Even names like Chris Tomlin
47:22
have become questionable because they do so much with churches
47:26
like Bethel and Elevation and they sing their songs.
47:31
These people come more and more like the people they tour and
47:34
write songs with. So this.
47:36
Is a key problem. With everything that's called
47:38
worship music. OK, it's.
47:41
Written by people. Who are not believers, who are
47:44
blatantly false teachers. And we're doing it for a profit
47:47
and for influence. The worship music industry is
47:51
built on entertainment, not edification.
47:55
It's built for profit, not for truth.
47:58
The temptation is watered down truth.
48:00
You sing things that are generic and vague enough that everybody
48:03
can sing it and it doesn't bug anybody.
48:05
You appeal to this wider on an audience and you make more money
48:10
then the. Result is that Christian radio.
48:12
Is garbage OK? Everything that is easy to
48:17
listen to is mostly garbage. There are some gems you can pull
48:22
out, but the majority of it is awful and there are very few
48:27
trustworthy and reliable Christian musician.
48:33
And so as we're coming. To an end.
48:35
I wish we had more time for this tonight, but I ask you to turn
48:38
over your handout. OK?
48:41
On this I put 2 songs that are from the top ten of.
48:46
CCLICCLI is the organization that handles all the royalties
48:51
and the copyrights for basically all songs sung in churches.
48:55
So these two songs, Graves in the Gardens and Gratitude are in
48:58
the top 10 sung in churches across the world.
49:01
OK. And you look at it and at first
49:04
glance, I mean, it doesn't look awful.
49:08
I mean, there's no blatant heresy in it.
49:11
But when you evaluate it, you understand how man centered it
49:14
is, how weak it is and how useless it is.
49:19
And you understand that it does not honor God because it does
49:23
not give an accurate picture of him.
49:27
A revelation. Graves into gardens.
49:29
OK, I was at a Christian School and they sung this every month
49:36
and it just killed me. You look.
49:40
At their first verse. I searched the world that
49:42
couldn't fill me, and at the end, every desire is now
49:44
satisfied here in your love. So we're meeting felt needs, OK?
49:48
We're not needing spiritual needs, taking care of sin.
49:52
We're singing about our felt needs.
49:54
There's nothing better than you. OK, that's vague, but not awful.
49:58
I'm not afraid to show you my weaknesses, my failures and
50:01
flaws. Lord seen them.
50:02
You've seen them all and you still call me friend.
50:05
First of all, sin is not weaknesses, failures and flaws.
50:09
OK, that's a little bit of a cop out.
50:11
OK? Sin is an offence against the
50:13
perfect holy God that requires eternal judgement in hell.
50:19
And let's not call God our friend.
50:25
Let's not Scripture calls God our Father.
50:30
It's the. Title of reverence.
50:32
And authority. Scripture calls God our master
50:38
as slaves. It's the title of reverence and
50:41
authority. Not that there's no love, there
50:43
is, but the way we relate to God begins with reverence.
50:48
It begins with honoring Him and understanding His character.
50:52
Can you look through the rest of the song?
50:53
There's some vague metaphors. The God of the mountain is the
50:56
God of the valley. What does that mean?
51:01
It means whatever you want because it's vague and then it
51:05
goes into some some. Proclaims God does these things.
51:09
You turn graves into gardens. Cool.
51:14
Like what? What does that mean?
51:17
God's a gardening God. We're going back to Eden.
51:19
You turn bones into armies. OK, Probably a reference to
51:22
Ezekiel. Dry bones.
51:24
You guys have never heard the kids song.
51:25
I don't know if you've read that.
51:26
Believe it's in Ezekiel. It's Ezekiel in the 30s
51:28
someplace. But it talks about God showing
51:31
Ezekiel that he's going to bring Israel back and resurrect them
51:34
though they were scattered and dead.
51:36
OK, But it's just vague. It's just a bunch of things that
51:39
God can do for me. OK?
51:42
You're saying you, you do these things, God, you're the only one
51:45
who can. But the song is really about me.
51:49
It's about what God is going to do for me.
51:52
When you look at gratitude, my my question is, what are you
51:57
grateful for? The name of the song is
52:00
gratitude. What are you thankful for?
52:05
OK, if you, if I'm going to respond to God, I'm going to,
52:09
I'm going to be asking, yes, OK, I know what I'm thankful for.
52:13
But it would be helpful if a song I'm singing outlines.
52:16
What am I thankful for? What are some things that we're
52:19
thankful for? Give me some salvation.
52:23
That's great. Yes.
52:25
What else? For wife, Life, Wife, wife.
52:34
And life, both of those things. Both are great and absolutely
52:37
true. Amen.
52:38
Yes, there are so many things and there are so many good songs
52:43
that talk about giving thanks to God.
52:44
We sing to Jesus. Thank you.
52:45
The mystery of the cross. I cannot comprehend the agonies
52:48
of Calvary. You, the perfect Holy 1,
52:51
crushed. Your son who drank.
52:53
The bitter cup reserved for me. And you sing that and you're
52:56
just like, now I'll sing thank you, now I will.
53:00
Because that articulates it in a way that I'm probably not wise
53:03
enough to put together by myself.
53:04
But it's good and it's true, and I have a response, but this song
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says nothing. I'm going to express my
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gratitude. And how do I do that?
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I throw out my hands. I praise you.
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I've got one response. I've just got one move arm.
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Stretch ride? Really.
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Your one response to God is to do this.
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We just spent a whole night talking.
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About how your response to God is your whole life and you're
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going to sing a song. This is how I respond by
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stretching out my arms and look at him.
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It's so, it's so shallow. It's so man centered.
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I wanted to use the example of the song Christ the Sure and
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steady Anchor because it's a metaphor.
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But in it there is great biblical truth that draws us not
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to ourselves but back to Christ. Christ the sure and steady
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anchor. OK, it's using the seafaring
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imagery. OK, it talks about the fury of
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the storm. The the moral of it.
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I will hold fast to the anchor. It shall never be removed.
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OK, I hold fast to Christ. He will never leave me.
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He will never forsake me. I cannot lose my salvation.
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So no matter what's happening in my life, I cling to Him, OK,
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even in temptation. And I realized in verse 2,
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though I justly stand accused, I will hold fast.
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Verse 3, lift your eyes to Calvary.
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This my ballast of assurance. See, His love forever proved.
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My assurance is not based on me, but it's based on the fact that
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God's love and His salvation is forever proved and accomplished
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by what Jesus did once on the cross.
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A ballast if you don't know, in a ship.
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Is the weight in the bottom of it?
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And so ships nowadays will fill up with water or they'll put
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cargo and things down there to bring stability to the ship so
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that in a storm it doesn't tip over.
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If you have weight in the bottom of the ship, it keeps it stable,
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it keeps it upright, it keeps it going.
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And so it's using this imagery to saying my steadfastness, even
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though I feel like I'm in a storm, is based on Christ and it
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speaks of heaven. So those are good truths.
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Even though this is a song that is has a little more imagery,
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it's a little more of a metaphor rather than articulating
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specific theology. There's so much more I.
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Would love to talk about. But I would just encourage you
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to have. Discernment, and that's the
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battle that we need to have in everything.
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Have discernment. Be aware of what you're
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listening to, what you're feeling you're home with, what
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your children are listening to because it matters.
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Is the Word of Christ dwelling richly in my mind because of how
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I fill my home and because of being in the Word and singing
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good songs and thinking about it?
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Or am I filling my life with triviality?
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Am I filling with my life with things that are not honoring to
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the Lord? It's so easy for us to
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compromise in the things we listen to because there's so
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much garbage out there, but we have to evaluate everything.
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My wife both hates and loves the fact I can never just listen to
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a song. I can't just enjoy a song.
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I'm listening to what it says and always have a comment like
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that's so stupid. She's like, why can't you just,
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It's not, it's not a worship song.
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It's not about Jesus. Can't you just enjoy it?
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But I can't help it and we all need to think that way.
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Not that I'm great at that, not that I have great discernment,
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but God's Word is a perfect guide and it teaches and
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instructs everyone of us so that we will be discerning and so
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that we can fill our minds and our lives with God's truth.
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And it's all the more important, as we have an example in our
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church and in our families and with our friends, to not
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compromise, OK? To not just settle for wishy
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washy, not settle for garbage, and to be careful of where our
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music's coming from. To be careful of what we're
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singing and what we're listening to.
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You don't have to make the same choices as me.
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And I would love to speak with you more if you have more
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specific questions. I'm sorry I haven't had that
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time tonight. But I want to encourage you that
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singing is wonderful and singing is valuable and important.
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I mean, it's not because I say it.
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It's not because I like music. It's because God's Word says so.
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And He gave it to you as a gift. He gave it to you as something
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beautiful, to express your response to Him, to speak to
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Him, and to look forward to heaven where someday we'll sing
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perfectly and where we can express perfectly and we'll be
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able to worship without any hindrance of distraction or
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sinfulness. And so I hope that's an
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encouragement to you tonight. And I'd love to talk with you
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more tonight, another time at church.
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I would love to make myself available, but let's go some
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prayer. Lord, we thank you for this
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night. Thank you for the clarity in
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your word. Thank you for the great depth of
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truth that you've given us in your word.
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Thank you that you've made us to sing.
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And when we do sing your truth, it is so wonderful.
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It's something that we enjoy. It's something we want to
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continually do. And we pray, Lord, that you
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would focus us on heaven, focus us on the mission we have now,
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focus us on your Word, God. We pray that it would richly
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dwell in US and that you would give us wisdom.
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We ask to do the very best we can to fill our entire lives
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with it. That it would guide us and shape
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us. It would mark us and make us a
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people set apart. Thank you that you are in
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control of all things and that no matter how we feel about a
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situation, you are working through it and you will lead us
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faithfully to the end. Thank you for the hope of
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heaven, and we thank you for this church that you've put here
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that we can serve you in it. We pray these things in your
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name, Amen.