Musical church

Here we are gathered together as a group of Holy Spirit-indwelt people.

When Jesus saved us, He also gifted us with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Holy Spirit has many roles to fulfill in our lives.

He teaches us by helping us understand scripture.

He guides us by taking that scripture and helping us to know how it affects our lives today.

He convicts our heart when we sin against God.

Conviction does not equal guilt.

It is a drawing back to God and away from our sin.

He empowers us for service to God.

When a person is allowing the Holy Spirit to operate freely within their lives, there will always be a certain amount of evidence that naturally follows.

One evidence that we see is an avoidance of other controlling influences.

Hence the directive to avoid alcohol induced drunkeness.

I would like to reiterate my belief that there is no benefit for a Christian toying with alcohol.

Another evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life can be seen in the music that proceeds from their mouth and from their heart.

Paul addresses both the internal and the external music that should play a role in the Spirit-filled Christian.

Music is a huge part of our human existence.

Every believer should regularly examine the music of their life.

The first source of music that Paul addresses is the audible music that we “speak to” ourselves.

There are two aspects of verbal music that we see in this verse.

The audience.

The content.

The audience that verbal music focuses on is the Christian and his fellow believers.

We sing out loud for own benefit.

We also sing out loud for the benefit of others.

What are we supposed to gain from these outward expressions?

What is the driving force behind these outbursts of music?

It’s the work of the Holy Spirit in our soul.

When we sing we are edifying ourselves and others regarding the work that He is doing.

I want you to think about this with me for a moment.

How did we come to house the Holy Spirit?

Will He ever leave us?

The work that He is doing, could we ever do that for ourselves?

As temples of the Holy Ghost, what do we know about our future?

Answering these questions will give you sufficient material for your song.

We sing from our position of redemption.

We sing about the benefits of our redemption.

When Holy Spirit filled people sing to each other and themselves they express...

Confidence in trial.

Joy

Gratitude

Awe

Freedom

Transformation

These are things that we all need to be reminded of.

Music is a tool that God has given us to encourage ourselves and others.

It is interesting then, that Paul follows up a condemnation of “liquid courage” with the Christian alternative.

What is one of the tell-tale signs of a drunk?

Is it not slurred speech?

What is Paul saying is the tell-tale sign of a person controlled (not by alcohol, but) by the Holy Spirit?

It is strengthening, spiritual songs.

When we consider the content of the Christian’s music, we see three styles of composition.

Psalms

A strict interpretation of a Psalm would be a song that was meant to be sung accompanied by a harp.

The harp could refer to a variety of stringed instruments.

As instruments have changed, we know that we have many stringed instruments available to us today.

The great thing about stringed instruments, historically, is the relative ease in which they are transported.

Paul also, certainly, means for his readers to have in mind the songs of the OT.

We would be ignorant to assume that there were not Psalms of the NT that were being written and employed in the worship of the first century churches.

Luke records two Christian psalms in his record of Christ’s life.

One was highlighted in the past year’s Chosen: Christmas special.

Luke 1:46-55 records Mary’s song of praise to God over the birth of Jesus.

I won’t deal with that one but I would encourage you to read it and go watch the episode.

The other one can be found in the next chapter when Jesus is brought to the Temple.

In this passage, Simeon praises God for letting him see the Messiah.

Luke 2:29-32 “29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart In peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

This beautiful song of praise was, obviously from the text, impactful in the heart of young Mary and it almost certain that she was the source of this information for Luke.

Though Simeon may have died soon after, the lyrics of his psalm remain to this day, and may have been sung in the early days of the church.

Psalms: a mobile short song of the heart meant to be sung with a stringed instrument, in the same vein as the OT psalms.

Hymns

Humnos in classical greek were a genre of music that carried an established criteria that qualified them as a humnos.

They were festive songs that were meant to be celebratory in nature.

In a pagan context they celebrated and praised the power of the greek/roman pantheon.

They also were used to herald the exploits of heroic men.

Paul commends Christian hymns to his readers.

A Christian hymn is thus intended to celebrate the power of our God.

It is to be festive and victorious.

Christian hymns are not meant to sound like funeral dirges.

They are instead to carry the sound of celebration.

They are meant to direct the singer and the listener to the exploits of our God.

One author suggests that Paul actually quotes one of these modern hymns just a few verses back in verse 14.

Ephesians 5:14 “14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

Though there are OT allusions here, there is no OT passage that directly connects with this verse.

One author goes so far as to say that the precise rhythm of this line is similar to contemporary religious initiation chants and might have been a line from a baptismal hymn that would be sung as a charge to the new convert.

This fits with the purpose of Christian music which Paul has established as a tool for edifying one another.

In this instance, the new convert is pointed to the ability of God to grant them light in their soul.

Hymns: festive, praise songs that celebrate the power and victory of our God.

Spiritual Songs

There is only one greek word that is translated as “song” in the NT.

It is the Greek word “ode”

We would understand it as the word “ode” as in Ode to Joy.

There were two major forms of odes at this point in history.

Pindaric which was popularized by Pindar about 600 years earlier.

Pindaric odes were highly stylized, complex poems of heroism and bravery.

These were the poems of high-society.

Even more popular during the life of Paul were Horatian odes.

Horatian odes were poems of real life.

They were intimate and reflective.

They centered on themes of friendship, love and other aspects of daily life.

We cannot tell which of these types of odes that Paul was more familiar with.

Both would certainly have a place in composing spiritual poems about God.

To me, the Pindaric poems seem to more closely follow the genre of the previously mentioned hymns.

Let’s assume, just for tonight, that perhaps Paul has Horatian odes in mind when he challenges his reader to speak in Spiritual odes.

Poems, pictures of what being a Christian looks like in every day life.

Maybe, we could say this...

A spiritual song is like a gospel song.

It’s a song of testimony.

It’s a poem relating the difference that Jesus made in your life.

Poetry sometimes uses word pictures to relate these truths.

Like, “I was sinking deep in sin...”

Poetry is also, sometimes more overt.

Like “I searched the world, but it couldn’t fill me...”

Isn’t this incredible that God would sanction and give us three different avenues for expressing the work and joy that springs from the Holy Spirit working in our lives?

Psalms: Mobile songs of the heart that are sung on a stringed instrument.

Hymns: Festive, praise songs that celebrate the power and victory of our God.

Spiritual Songs: poems that tell the every day stories of how God has changed our lives.

The second source of music that Paul addresses is the internal music that we offer to the Lord.

We’ll have to get into that next week.

Tonight I want us to just consider the role that music plays in our life.

Did any of these descriptors hit home with the music that fills your life?

When Paul says speaking to yourselves, that includes you.

Is the only Christian music in your life the music that you hear at church?

If you are being affected by the Holy Spirit, then you won’t be able to help but have godly music in your life.

It is one of the tell-tale signs of a Holy Spirit-filled person.

The good news is we are not locked into a single form of music.

God has given three different styles of music ranging from simple to complex, from the high and lofty to every day life.

Christian music encourages, teaches, reminds, and focuses the believer.

What role could you have in speaking godly music into the lives of others.

We need singers.

Not professionals, though I am grateful for the people that God has blessed with talent.

There is no talent prerequisite on this verse.

The only stipulation is that the person is Holy Spirit-filled.

The Holy Spirit-filled person will sing truth into their own life and the lives of others.

We also need song writers and composers.

When Paul wrote these words there was no written Christian hymnal, that didn’t come about until 1501.

Instead they relied on regional songs written and composed by other believers.

Not every psalm, hymns, or spiritual song that you sing needs to be composed for public use.

You may be like Simeon, and the song you sing stems from a sudden outburst of appreciation for God and what He has done in your life.

We may have some people in our church who have been gifted and have worked on their abilities, and you should try your hand at composing and writing Christian music.

All of us need to remember, singing is not something that God expects only from the professionals and those with talent.

Singing is a natural outflowing of the Holy Spirit working in our life.

Christian music is the music that God wants to fill our life with.

No other genre of music can compare to the beneficial effects on our life.