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Bible preaching from the pulpit of Choice Hills Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina
we are going to, we're gonna be looking at,
I don't know how far we'll get,
I'm hoping maybe we can finish this section
on our church regarding our music.
So the title of what, this is part six, six weeks,
we've been looking at our church's music.
And in this section, I'm hoping, as I said,
to finish this section, and what we've been trying to do,
for those of you that are visiting or are new,
we've been going through, kind of methodically,
going through different aspects of our church
and why the things are the way they are.
And we've been looking at different categories
or different aspects of our church.
And right now we're looking at music.
And so last week we talked about Ephesians 519
and Colossians 316, which both are the main go-to verses
in the New Testament regarding songs, hymns,
and spiritual songs, and we looked at that in some detail.
We also examined how those things,
the use of music is related to being filled
with the Spirit of God.
And we also took some time to examine what it means
to be a, when a song is a spiritual song.
And we saw that a spiritual song is set in contrast
to a carnal song.
It's not, the Lord is not giving us a genre of music,
he's describing a kind of song,
which is a spiritual song, which relates back
to Galatians chapter five and the fruit of the Spirit
versus the works of the flesh.
And so that's one way we can judge music.
And that's one way that we, in our church, judge our music.
So these things kind of overlap,
that overlaps with our personal music,
as well as the music that we use in our church.
So we also examined and looked at our hymn book,
and we examined why we use the hymn book,
and why we have chosen to use it.
And we saw how that hymns in a hymn book
are generally speaking, rich in doctrine.
And we saw also in Colossians how the songs
are supposed to be, include the word of Christ,
which is designed to admonish us and to teach us in song.
And so that's where the hymns need to be substantial,
and they need to affirm our faith and strengthen our faith.
Not only that, but we also saw how the hymns,
because of, primarily because of their age,
provide a vital connection with the past work of God
to generations gone by.
And that's, I know it was definitely true in my generation,
but the generation after me, like my kids' generation,
there is definitely an element that seeks to dismiss
prior generations and the wisdom, the accumulated wisdom,
as if we just came here and everything was, we did it all.
Our generation was the first one
that ever was born on the earth.
And so what the hymn book does is,
and this goes along with church history.
One of the reasons that church history is so important
is because it provides that connection.
We did not start this thing called Christianity.
We did not start it.
It was started by Christ.
Well, you can even go further back than that
with the Old Testament, but it was started by Christ,
and then those who believed carried it on
through the generations, and that's why we're here.
We're here because of the word of God
that was carried to us.
So we're not islands.
We owe a great debt to those who came before us,
and we can't just simply wave our hand to dismiss that.
And part of the hymn book is that the hymn book
and specifically the songs in it provide that connection.
When you can read a song that's 300 years old,
or in some cases 500 years old,
and it's saying the same thing that you believe
from the word of God, that's significant.
That's not something that's minor.
The other thing we talked about,
again, we're just looking at practical matters,
is, looks like I got my notes mixed up here.
We looked at the practical use of the notes in a hymn book,
and why that's important, because it enables
the congregation to sing as a congregation in parts
with greater skill.
That's why we have, that's why the hymn books
are written in four-part harmony, that's why.
They're designed to be sung as a congregation,
and that's why they have them.
So that's not something we're gonna get rid of,
that's not something we're gonna change.
I would like to see us move more in that direction
of using that and singing with skill to the Lord
as a congregation.
And so that leads us to the question
of congregational singing, congregational singing.
So let's pray, and then I would like you to turn
to 1 Chronicles chapter 15.
1 Chronicles chapter 15 is where we're going
to begin this morning.
Let's pray together.
Our Father, we thank you for the opportunity
to meet together as your people.
Thank you for your people that have gathered here today.
Lord, there's beautiful weather outside,
crisp mornings and warm in the afternoon,
and we're just so thankful for that.
And thank you for the opportunity to share the gospel
with people yesterday.
And all the people that got witnessed to,
got tracked, and we were able to speak to,
and even just be counted to be present, Lord,
but we know it's not by our own goodness
or power, we're just weak, but the grace of God
is what enabled us to give out the gospel, Lord.
And as we go into Sunday School now
and our service to follow, where we try to meet together
and give you praise, we pray that you would oversee
everything that's done, that Lord, we offer this time
to you and ask for your guidance and your help.
Lord, I ask for that directly from me,
that I might be able to help your people,
and also for your people, that we all might receive
the word of God in great meekness.
For we ask in Jesus' name, amen.
All right, so while we're talking about hymn books,
we're talking about congregational singing,
which is the primary purpose of having a hymn book.
And so, 1 Chronicles 15, verse number 16,
and I could go to a number of passages.
I'm not trying to be exhaustive with this,
so you know, you could, of course, you can,
when you have opportunity, you can look up
the different references regarding this,
but in the Old Testament, David, being a man
who was a musical man, he was a man who was skilled
with instruments, so skilled, in fact,
that he was actually called to go play music
in the king's court.
I mean, so he wasn't an average music player.
He was skilled in the harp, and so he was a musician himself,
and so it's no wonder that once he rose to the throne
and was established, those things were in his heart to do,
and you know what he did?
He established skilled musicians among the Levites
to sing praise to God for the people of Israel,
and he did it, and I mean, if you think about it,
this was, a lot of things that David did
were things that came straight out of his heart to God,
just this overflow of his love for God,
and this is one of them.
And so he organized the Levites,
because by the time you get to David's reign,
about 1,000 years before Christ,
by the time you get there, the Levites are,
there's many, many Levites.
They have courses, because there's so many.
They have different jobs they're doing
at different times of the year, because they multiply.
Same thing with the priests.
And so because of that, he organized them
into musicians and singers.
Look at chapter 15 of First Chronicles, verse number 16.
The Bible says, and David spake to the chief of the Levites
to appoint their brethren to be the singers
with instruments of music, sultries and harps and cymbals,
sounding by lifting up the voice with joy.
And so that's what they did.
So what I'm trying to establish here is
there is a clear precedent in scripture
for having skilled musicians, not what I am,
but a skilled musician to lead the praise
and the singing of God's people.
And that's what you have here.
There were skilled musicians
who were appointed for that purpose.
You might say it's a choir.
You might say it's an ensemble.
However you wanna put it to kinda translate it
into our day, but you do see it in scripture.
So that is a clear precedent.
These were people of skill who could play instruments.
They also sang, as we see here.
Now, and that fact leads us to a logical conclusion,
which is that not every person among God's people
is skilled in playing instruments or singing.
That's why they were appointed for the purpose,
because they were skilled.
And so those that had the skill,
and now those that have that skill should use that skill
to give honor and glory to God.
Can I get an amen?
That's good to do, that's good to do.
But, so we have that precedent, but let me turn the page.
But that does not mean, however,
that that is the extent of singing as a congregation
as seen in the Old Testament.
That's not the case at all.
I wanna run through a few verses in Bible book order,
starting Exodus chapter 15.
And we're just gonna go through them really quickly.
We won't spend a lot of time on any one of them.
But I wanna show you principles,
or the precedent of congregational singing
among God's people in the Old Testament.
So we know there are skilled people.
We're not talking about that, though.
We're talking about the whole congregation,
people who are unskilled singing.
Because this is a principle that leads directly
to where our church is, okay?
Exodus chapter 15, verse one.
Then saying Moses, notice, and the children of Israel,
this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying,
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Note, the children of Israel are singing this song.
This is not a performance for them to listen to.
This is a function of God's people
that they are participating in, all right?
Let's go to the next.
Numbers chapter 21.
Numbers chapter 21.
Numbers 21.
Verse number 17.
Then Israel sang this song.
Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it.
Notice who's singing.
Who's singing?
Israel is singing.
Not the singers.
Israel is singing.
Job, look at Job chapter 38.
Job 38.
Verse number seven.
Now I know this is not on earth, this is in heaven,
but notice of the host in heaven,
did you know the host in heaven is actually kind of a picture
of the host of the people of God?
In fact, in the Old Testament,
the host of heaven, the Lord of hosts, the angelic host,
which the word host just means army.
So the angelic army, the angelic host refers to the angels,
but then God's people, Israel, in the Old Testament,
are also called the host of the Lord.
And so you have this kind of picture between
the heavenly host and the earthly host.
And that's true in we are the host of God now.
We're God's people and we're God's army.
I mean, Ephesians chapter six,
it's all throughout scripture.
Notice in Job 38, verse seven, says this.
Well, verse six says,
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened,
and who laid the cornerstone thereof?
When the morrow of the earth was made,
when the morning stars, referring to the angels,
sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
Notice the whole heavenly host is singing as a congregation.
All right, look at Psalm number 30, Psalm 30.
Verse number four.
Psalm 30, verse four says,
Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
The Lord encourages us to sing
as many as our saints to sing.
Psalm 67, if you would look at that.
Psalm 67.
If you would look at that, Psalm 67.
Verse four.
Says, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for thou shalt judge the people righteously
and govern the nations upon earth, say the Lord.
And the Lord will judge the nations upon earth,
for thou shalt judge the people righteously
and govern the nations upon earth, say the Lord.
Notice all the nations, all the people,
not just skilled singers.
Psalm 95, Psalm 95.
This is Psalm 95, verse number one,
is a generalized call to sing unto God.
Psalm 95, verse one, O come, let us sing unto the Lord.
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psalm 98, Psalm 98, verse four.
Once again, a call to sing,
make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth.
Not just those who can play an instrument or sing,
all the earth.
Make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise.
Psalm 149, Psalm 149.
Verse one, Psalm 149, verse one.
The Bible says, praise ye the Lord.
Sing unto the Lord a new song
and his praise in the congregation of saints.
That one's, I think, among the clearest ones
that we've seen.
Lastly, go to Revelation, chapter five.
Revelation, chapter five.
Look at verse number eight.
We've already seen the heavenly host.
Now we're gonna see the host of the saints, rather,
in verse number eight in Revelation five.
Now they're in heaven by this point.
They're with the Lord already.
They're in heaven by this point.
They're with the Lord already.
Verse eight says, and when he had taken the book,
and the four beasts and the four and 20 elders
fell down before the lamb,
having every one of them harps,
and golden vials full of odors,
which are the prayers of saints.
And they sung a new song, saying,
thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof,
for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood
out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
Notice all of them, the 24 elders,
representative of God's people,
representative of the church,
and it says, they all had harps and sang.
Now maybe in that day,
all of us will be able to play an instrument
unlike the way it is now,
but we do see that they all sing.
So what's the point I'm making?
The primary form of music in our church
has been and will continue to be congregational singing.
And why is that different?
Why is that unique?
I mean, it's not unique,
but why is it done on purpose in that way?
Well, because, and this goes to a broader issue,
which is a hill I die on.
I haven't had to die yet,
but I would die on the hill, which is this.
The church of the living God
is not supposed to be a spectator sport.
It's supposed to be something in which we participate.
And anything, I say anything,
but I'm just speaking broadly here, a little bit loosely.
The principle is that when you see
the congregational singing,
that's something you can participate in.
When you have the hymn book in front of you,
that's something you participate in.
When you have four-part harmony in the hymn book,
that's something you can participate in.
You're not coming to church to spectate.
You're not coming to church to see a performance
by skilled musicians,
although that is the thing that is perfectly allowable
in scripture, as we saw.
But that's not the sum total of it.
It's not just we spectate, but we participate.
And this includes things like
the different ministries of the church,
visiting people who are sick,
visiting people who are shut in.
This includes things like participating in teaching
or even responding to the truth
or singing in the congregational songs
or singing in a choir or an ensemble
or whatever the case, evangelism.
There's just so many ways, but the point is
is that the church of God is supposed to be
not a spectator sport,
but something in which we participate, we're active.
I wanna tell you something.
Cultural Christianity that has existed in the South
has always presented church as something you spectate.
You put your Sunday best on, and I'm all for that.
I'm not knocking it, obviously.
But the idea is you come, you present yourself,
you sit and you watch while everybody else does stuff.
And that's developed in the music as well,
because now the primary form of,
not every church, but in many churches,
the primary form of praise is not done by the congregation,
but it's done by the worship team,
where we're expected to spectate while they perform
no different than what we saw
in Fall for Greenville last night.
A huge crowd of people listening
to people playing the drums and their guitar
and they're playing their song at the end,
at the end of the street there.
That is not, although that kind of presentation
and leading in praise is obviously allowed in scripture,
the primary way that our church uses music
is as a congregation, because everybody can be involved.
And you know what that means?
That means all of us are gonna have
to make a conscious decision to be involved
and not get our hymn book and bury our head in it.
And just sing, and just look like we're singing
to look respectable.
You get out of the congregational singing
what you put into the congregational singing.
Let me encourage you, just as a practical matter.
You get your hymn book, you bring that thing down
a little bit, keep your head up,
and imagine yourself as the only person in the room,
the only person in the room,
and direct your song to God only.
That's what you do.
And I promise you, when you focus your heart
and your mind upon what you're singing
and you ignore everybody else around you
or how bad you sound or they sound,
when you do that, your singing will get way more enjoyable
when you participate with the congregation
of the saints in singing.
It's not about looking respectable.
It's not about looking like, so in this case,
Brother Ben can see you and looks like you're singing.
No, it's not about that.
It's about the congregation giving praise to God.
That's what it's about.
That's what it's about.
And so that's an important, that difference,
that distinction between being a spectator
and being a participator, is that a word, participator?
Participant, thank you, thank you.
That distinction, I think, is an important distinction
and it covers a lot of different areas in churches.
Okay?
Okay, and that leads to the next thing
that I wanted to cover.
You can go ahead and turn to 1 Corinthians 14.
1 Corinthians 14.
We'll get there in just a second.
We'll get there in just a second.
We'll get down to verse 29, but before we do that, okay.
So again, we're covering our church,
our church's music specifically.
Why it is the way it is.
Not that it's perfect, not that it's perfect,
but this explains the philosophy of music
and the choices that we have made all these years, right?
Now based upon that principle
of congregational singing in scripture,
and that being that all the saints
are supposed to participate,
that does a great deal to preclude
the performative type of music
that has become so common in churches.
That has done a lot to preclude that.
Now again, we know there are people who are skilled
who sing and we're glad to hear them.
We're glad to hear them.
But when that's the main thrust,
what ends up happening besides the fact
that it becomes a spectator sport,
primarily like you're going to a performance
rather than participating,
the other thing is it trends toward
a concert atmosphere.
A concert atmosphere.
Now when I say concert atmosphere,
you know what I'm referring to when I say that.
A concert, when you go to a concert,
like I remember a few years ago,
there was an orchestra that was playing on Furman,
on the lake.
I mean, some of you might have been to one of those.
It's like, what was it called?
Orchestra on the lake or something.
Anyway, that's a concert.
You don't go to sing.
You go to listen, right?
You go to listen to them play, okay?
It's not a bad thing.
But the problem is in the church of God,
that doesn't seem to be the most common kind of concert
that is being promoted.
It's concert mimicking often the kind of thing
we saw at Fawfell Greenville last night, yesterday.
Music that is primarily performative,
that is performed by skilled musicians.
Now we've already seen that,
we've already seen the principle,
but the problem with that, a concert atmosphere
where everybody's suspected to show up and listen
is it actually downplays or in a subtle way
discourages participation.
But actually when you look at scripture night,
you're not gonna find a black and white verse that says,
the New Testament church, every service
is supposed to be a participation service.
You're not gonna find that.
But let me show you an example.
First Corinthians chapter 14, look at verse 29.
Now this is talking about the prophets, the preachers,
in the church, during the church meeting.
Here's what it says.
Verse 29 says, let the prophets speak two or three
and let the other judge.
If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by,
let the first hold his peace for ye may all,
notice that, all prophesy one by one
that all may learn and all may be comforted.
You know what you see there?
You see participation.
That's all I'm pointing in that out.
And this is, I view this sort of like giving a testimony.
It may be a little more full than that
because the idea of prophecy
is you're handling the word of God.
But the point being is that you don't see
that the church in Corinth, you don't see a spirit
where everyone's just expected to sit back
and the only person who's ever supposed to talk
is the preacher.
No, there's a participation involved in what you see here.
Other people can talk.
Other people can talk?
Yeah, participation.
Giving thanks to God.
Reminding the people of God of some verse of scripture.
You know, whatever.
There is a participation.
And so that's one principle
as it regards a concert atmosphere
which obviously we are not trying to put on here, right?
But there's another thing and again, these things,
sometimes they go, sometimes they go together,
sometimes they don't.
Sometimes there's certain aspects that go,
sometimes there's other aspects that appear,
characteristics that appear with these things.
But one of the aspects that churches
have started to promote recently is darkening the room.
Darkening the room.
And one of the primary ways, and again,
having a black ceiling is kind of a modern feature, right?
In a lot of churches, they've gone to that.
And I'm not against that, okay?
Like I go into a coffee shop
and they have a ceiling that has black tiles.
I'm not like protesting having black tiles for a ceiling.
But when it's part of an overall trend
that seeks to darken the room,
that is moving in the direction of
and characteristic of a concert atmosphere
where participation is not so much expected.
You're supposed to sit and listen
which is why they have it at actual concerts.
It's dark, you know why?
Because all the lights are up here.
This is the focus rather than this being the focus.
Okay?
But that's not all.
When you go, have any of you ever been to the Peace Center?
All right, you go into the room,
you go into the auditorium,
and you go down and it's well lit,
so you can see and walk.
But once the show starts, what's the first thing they do?
They turn down the lights, why?
Exactly, because you're supposed to be looking up here.
You're supposed to be spectating, okay?
That's not a sin,
but that's the purpose of the event, right?
Okay, but that's not the purpose of the church.
Okay, that's the key, that's what I want you to see.
You see, dimming the lights
does not facilitate people's participation
in the event, and especially as it comes
when it comes to reading the scripture.
You say, well, we can just put the scripture on the screen.
We'll get to that later.
If we dim the lights in an effort
to present that same kind of aura
like you would find, first of all, we have to bet,
let's just take a pause here.
I just wanna take a pause,
and I just wanna ask just a practical question.
Why are we mimicking this in the first place?
What in the world are we doing mimicking this atmosphere
that we find that is characteristic of performances
in the world regarding music?
And I'm talking about all kinds of genres.
Why are we doing this, first of all, in the church of God?
Why are we taking our cues from that?
That's a problem.
The second thing regarding dimming the lights is this.
If you have your Bible, I know this is in the book,
but if you have your Bible,
you need to see what the text of scripture says,
and the preacher should be preaching
from the text of scripture such that you can follow it
with your eyes with your own Bible that you carry home
and take with you every day, that you read every day.
When you dim the lights, you make that difficult,
if not impossible, to do.
That's not cool, that's not okay.
Acts chapter 17 describes the church in Berea
that the Bible says that they searched the scriptures
whether those things were so.
So it is the duty and responsibility of the saint of God
to read the Bible as the preacher and the prophet is preaching
and to see, is this what it says?
That's participation, by the way.
And you know what, you have to have lights to do that.
So I mean, there's multiple facets
to go with the concert atmosphere.
Part of it is the scripture, part of it is the music,
part of it is the, you know, all of those things
kind of put together, the purpose of the service.
But this explains why we have lights.
We don't want it dim, we want it bright.
Out here, not just up here, out here.
And that's why we do that.
Why would churches borrow things like strobes,
smoke machines, moving headlights,
spotlights, excessively loud volume?
Where did all of those ideas come from?
They did not come, they didn't come from the Bible.
They were not tradition that was passed down,
which is valid as long as it's scriptural, right?
Where did it come from?
It was borrowed.
That's where it came from, it was borrowed.
And it wasn't borrowed from people that loved the Lord.
And who were singing for God's glory.
No, no, it was borrowed.
And so we go to, let's go to Romans chapter 12.
This leads us to one other point this morning.
Verse one.
Romans 12, verse one says this.
I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable
to God, and that ye may be able to be
and may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God.
In my opinion, Romans 12, two is probably
the least utilized verse that is applied to music.
And what I'm referring to is conforming to the world,
matching the pattern of the world when it comes to music.
And this covers music, this covers styles,
this covers atmosphere,
this covers a lot of different things.
Why would a Christian take his cue
from the world who is at enmity with God
for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life?
That's what 1 John says.
Those things are not of the Father,
but they are of the world.
Why then would those things be the pattern
in music to which we mold?
Why would those things be the pattern?
Why are those things so often in churches the cues
for what should be done in our church?
And look, those of you that went to the Fall
for Greenville last night as you were walking out,
there was a big stage, they had moving headlights
and strobes and they had smoke and they had,
I don't know all the details
but they hadn't paid that much attention.
The volume, all of those things.
But why are we mimicking that?
And you know what the answer is?
Now I can't speak to every individual and their motives,
that's not what I'm saying.
But what was the original thought?
We've already covered this.
The original thought was we want to make our service
inviting to those who are seeking the Lord
who don't know the Lord.
And so that's why we're gonna borrow that atmosphere
and bring it into the church.
That was the origin of it.
And it's turned into what it is now,
but that was the origin.
And we've already talked about that.
The church of God is for the people of God.
We're not trying to change what we are to invite them.
We're trying to make sure that what we're doing
is pleasing, honoring to God.
And the Lord says there's a problem
when we're taking our pattern from the Lord in our music
or from the world in our music.
And so if we're borrowing these things with our styles,
with our atmospheres and all these elements of music
and praise and worship,
and we're taking the cues from the world,
how is that not a violation of Romans 12 too?
When we're conforming to the world.
Take as an example, take a different example.
Take raising children.
We have a tendency to borrow the pattern of the world
in raising our children.
You know that?
Now that seems a lot more clear cut than music,
does it not though?
It does.
But it's the same principle.
You put Tommy in time out,
and he comes at you with a knife,
and you put him in time out,
and you don't say anything negative to him,
because you know you don't want,
I mean, I'm being a little bit hyperbolic,
but you know what I'm talking about.
It's a philosophy of the world
where you don't want to tell your kid no
and that kind of thing,
and your kid rules the house.
We're not gonna borrow,
well I'm not gonna borrow that philosophy.
I'm not gonna pattern my parenting after that.
I'm gonna use biblical principles for my parenting,
but why then would I borrow and pattern my music styles
and the music I personally listen to,
or for sure in the church,
why would I borrow that from the world?
That which is the lust of the flesh,
lust of the eyes and pride of life,
which we already talked about.
Why would I borrow that for the service of God?
It is not acceptable because of that,
and what it demonstrates is
there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship
between God and the world who hates him.
The Bible says they are enmity.
It can't be borrowed because they're enemies.
No more than you can borrow the enemy's flag
and put it in your country.
So this is, I believe,
one of the most underused principles of scripture
to guide us in music,
but I think it should be used.
I think it should be used
because the Lord doesn't want us to make our patterns
after the world.
Well, I did not get done.
Big surprise, big surprise.
All right, let's pray together.