06212020 - Ephesians 5:18-21 Make a Joyful Noise
Ephesians 5:19–20 NASB95PARA
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
Introduction
Last week I asked the question: What is controlling you? Is it the Holy Spirit or is it something else or someone else?
Paul says in these verses “Do not get drunk with wine which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” He says...
1) Being filled = a matter of control
2) Being filled = not an option
3) Being filled = a process, i.e., keep on being filled
4) Being filled is not something any of us can do on our own
5) Being filled is something I must submit to daily - moment by moment, breath by breath.
There are two commands (imperatives) in this text –
“do not get drunk with wine.”
And “be filled with the Spirit’’.
These are followed by 4 words that indicate there is something ongoing that is a result of this being filled...
Speaking
Singing
Thanking
Submitting
Paul describes here the fruit of lives that are under the control of the Spirit. This is a matter of the Holy Spirit controlling our lives. . . not just a onetime event, but a process that is ongoing.
What is described here (vs. 19 – 21) ought to characterize all of our interactions with in the body of Christ – individually, but also collectively, corporately as we gather together as Christ’s body to WORSHIP the one who is our God.
Romans 12:1 NASB95PARA
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
This idea of being filled, or being controlled by the Spirit, seems to be connected with the idea of getting the focus off ourselves as we sing and make melody with our hearts TO THE LORD, giving Thanks for all things in the name of our Savior and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
How do we actively do this? By letting the word of Christ richly dwell within you.
Colossians 3:16 NASB95PARA
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
First of all there is singing....
Singing - making melody - songs
I had the privilege of serving a Church in Western Alabama in Marion PCA established in 1872. I was there in the mid 90’s. Over the life of that church there were close to 300 members. When I was pastor there, average Sunday attendance was 25-30 - not too much different than here each Lord’s Day. One thing that was a big part of their worship was singing accompanied by the piano and the pipe organ.
One of the saints there “Evelyn” was the matriarch of a family of singers. Evelyn would come into the church building during the week to arrange the hymnals and to tidy things up in the choir loft and sometimes when she was there I would be in my study upstairs and could hear her singing, making melody in her heart to the Lord.
She wouldn’t stop in and tell me she was in the building, but I knew she was there because I could hear her sweet voice singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
I believe one of the greatest evidences of being filled with the Spirit is this concept of making melodies in our hearts to God – singing – music – and songs.
Singing – alone or together goes beyond simply speaking words. Theology set to music allows us to think truly about the God we worship, but also leads us to feel fully with depth and intensity of emotion the reality of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.
We hear God’s people in all ages doing this
When Israel escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea . . what did they do? They sang. . .
Exodus 15:1–3 NASB95PARA
Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name.
Miriam joined in with her voice in song . . .
Exodus 15:21 NASB95PARA
Miriam answered them, “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”
Singing was so much a part of worship in the tabernacle that “Chenaniah, the chief of the levites was in charge of the singing – giving instruction in singing because he was skillful’’ (1 Chron 15:22)
The Psalms apparently were intended to be sung as God’s people gathered together to proclaim His wonderful works among his people with music and melody.
The Prophets Sang of God’s Salvation & His Judgments
Reminding God’s people that a singing heart is one that acknowledges God’s goodness but also calling those same people to repentance for there would come a day when there would be no singing and the sounds of silence would
Jeremiah 7:34 NASB95PARA
Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.
Ezekiel 26:13 NASB95PARA
So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps will be heard no more.
We Hear Singing in the New Testament Era
Jesus and the apostles sang (Matt 26:30) after the supper and before they went out to the mount of olives.
Paul speaks of ‘’praying with the spirit and with the mind’’ and singing with the spirit and with the mind also’’ (1 Cor. 14:15)
James (5:13) asks ‘’is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
The four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb – each holding a harp and a golden bowl full of incense and sang a new song . . .
Revelation 15:3 NASB95PARA
And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!
If worship through the ages has involved the joining of voices together in song, then why does this particular activity so often, today seem to divide and separate?
Worship Wars - singing or not singing - instruments or no instruments - psalms only, traditional hymns, praise choruses - worship teams?
I believe it is because we don’t understand fully the type of music God loves and we try to figure out how to please men in our worship service rather than how to please God.
Psalm 96:11 NASB95PARA
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Psalm 148:4 NASB95PARA
Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
The Psalmist writes “Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth.”
So what kind of music is pleasing to God?
How are we to go about obeying this command - making a joyful noise to the Lord? We do so by...
. . . Singing that expresses the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Christian singing is not natural. It is supernatural.
The Holy Spirit is God. God is supernatural. His spirit fills his people to act in certain ways – ways that are beyond our human ability to act, so that even a joyfully noise can be pleasing to him.
We get a glimpse of what being filled with the Holy Spirit is by the comparison in verse 18 with being drunk. "Don't get drunk with wine, be filled with the Holy Spirit." Getting drunk with wine means being controlled by wine. And when something controls you it masters you and makes you feel and act in certain ways.
So being filled with the Spirit means being controlled by the Spirit so that you feel and act in certain ways, in this case, with singing and making melody in your heart.
There is a religious singing that is offensive to God . . . singing that is not a work of the Holy Spirit - singing that draws attention to the accomplishment of men and draws our attention away from the work of the Holy Spirit and his fruit in us.
Amos 5:23–24 NASB95PARA
“Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
How are we to go about obeying this command - making a joyful noise to the Lord? We do so by...
. . . Singing that comes from the heart
v. 19b What is the opposite of “singing and making melody with the heart.”?
Singing and making music with our mouths. This idea of making music with our hearts is music that comes from the depth of our soul – music that involves more than just going through the motions – music that moves.
How are we to go about obeying this command - making a joyful noise to the Lord? We do so by...
. . . Singing that is directed to the Lord
True Worship is God centered and given to God through Jesus Christ. But not just God-centered in that everything in worship relates to God, but also God-centered in that everything in worship is done toward God - in the presence of God, with a view to God's hearing it and seeing it, with a desire that God receive it into his hearing with approval and delight.
When we sing, whether we are singing directly to the Lord ("You, O Lord, are a shield about me . . .")
or whether we are singing indirectly to the Lord ("A mighty fortress is our God . . ."), we are to sing mindfully - thinking about who we are singing to.
"Great is Thy faithfulness . . .", "Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee . . .", "Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise . . .", "You are Lord .. .", "I love you Lord . . ."
We should want to linger in the presence of the Lord speaking to the Lord about what we think and feel in response to who He is and what He has done and what He promises.
That's what "to the Lord" means in verse 19b. Worship is at its heart Godward, not man-ward.
Music that pleases God is Spirit-driven, heartfelt, God-centered.
This is not a time for making jokes or silliness or being superficial or overly sentimental. Worship comes from deep within the heart of God and is meant to take root deeply in the heart of his people as we focus with all of our heart - mind - soul and strength upon God himself.
This activity ought to be seriously joyful (or joyfully serious).
How are we to go about obeying this command - making a joyful noise to the Lord? We do so by...
. . . Singing that is focused on God’s Sovereign Goodness
Why do I say this? Because in verse 20 Paul says, ". . . always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father."
Giving thanks for all things is a mind boggling idea unless you have a deep, Biblical theology of God's sovereign goodness and even then, this concept is something difficult to grasp.
I call this theology deep because it avoids superficial conclusions like a chipper praise-God-anyhow approach to pain and suffering.
Paul says, "Weep with those who weep"(Romans 12:15).
He said, "Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good" (Romans 12:9).
“Always giving thanks for ALL THINGS” IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST”is not an easy thing to do, but it is necessary thing to do in the midst of horrible circumstances - of sickness - of lostness - of sinfulness.
Yet, there is a way to see in all things the hand of God moving for the glory of his name and the good of his people without discounting the reality of suffering in the world.
And what we need is a theology that is deep and Biblical enough that we can hate and oppose (in prayer and social work and evangelism) the evils of the world, and not cancel out the truth that in these very things and in our hating of them, and working against them, and patiently enduring in them, there is also a ground for giving thanks and God’s goodness(Romans 8:28; Genesis 50:20).
Consider Joseph’s brothers intending what they did for evil - God purposing all that for good.
Genesis 50:20 NASB95PARA
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Consider Job’s afflictions
Job 42:1–2 NASB95PARA
Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
How are we to go about obeying this command - making a joyful noise to the Lord? We do so by...
. . . Singing that involves fellowship
Verse 19: ". . . speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord."
Here is one of the clearest mandates for corporate worship in the New Testament. You can't obey this in solitude. God calls us to speak in song to one another. In
1 Corinthians 14:15–16 NASB95PARA
What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?
There are reasons for this corporate dimension to worship. Being together and singing to each other, and not just alone, intensifies our emotions for God, communicates our witness to God, and unifies our corporate life around God
Romans 15:6 NASB95PARA
so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What kind of music is pleasing to God?
All this gives us practise for the time which is coming when we will be gathered around God’s Throne of Grace to lift our voices with the Saints of all ages...
Will we sing opera - jazz - blues - classical?
Will there be choruses of simple praise?
Will there be singing of psalms, hymns, spiritual songs?
Johan Sebastian Bach signed all his work SDG, soli deo gloria - “to the only God Glory” This was his motto. He signed all his work, whether it was the sacred “St. Matthew’s Passion” or the “Secular Coffee Cantata” - with these letter SDG why?
...because he believed everything we do should be to God’s glory alone.
Singing that expresses the fullness of the Holy Spirit,
directed to our Triune God seated on his throne
comes from hearts that can no longer sin
Totally focused without distraction or hesitation on His goodness
joined together in fellowship with the Saints of all ages
That happens in a small - even imperfect way - as we gather here today to worship our God through Jesus Christ our King filled with His Spirit.
John, in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ gives us a glimpse of the perfection that all this will be...
Revelation 14:1–3 NASB95PARA
Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.
Revelation 5:11–14 NASB95PARA
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Spirit of the Living God