Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter
5. This evening I'd like to deal
with verses 19 to 21. I read these verses at the end
of the service last week, but really made no comment. Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God. The Apostle Paul had admonished
the people in verse 18 and said, and be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now last week I dealt
pretty much with that latter part of that verse, but be filled
with the Spirit. And this is what the Apostle
is setting forth. Being filled with God's Spirit
is a particular moving of the Holy Ghost upon the Lord's people. It's a blessing that is given
only by the Lord. into imparting, putting into
his people a special blessing of mercy. And it's found in the
Scriptures to be the blessing to God's people for the accomplishing
of God's will for a particular purpose, a particular act. being filled with the Holy Spirit. Every time we find believers
being filled with God's Spirit, there's always a service or an
act of obedience that's rendered. I know what people think nowadays. Well, he's a Spirit-filled believer. Well, all believers are Spirit-filled
believers. The Holy Spirit indwells every
believer. But there's an admonition that's
given of being filled, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now listen
again to these verses. Exodus 28 verse 3, And thou shalt
speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the Spirit
of wisdom. And here's what they did. The
Lord filled them with the Holy Ghost. that they may make Aaron's
garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the
priest's office." Spirit of God filled these men of wisdom, believers,
for this purpose, that they might make garments for Aaron, that
they might know what to do, how to do it. Can you imagine? The
responsibility of making these garments? God filled them with
the Spirit. Micah 3.8. But truly, I'm full
of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of judgment and of might. Micah said, the Lord's filled
me with the Holy Ghost. Filled me with the Spirit. To
do what? To declare unto Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin. It takes the filling of the Holy
Ghost to preach the gospel in power. That's not something that
a believer does. It's something that's done to
him. I can make preparation. I told you before, I got a set
of notes. Got them written out. Got some
scriptures written down. Gone over them. Checked the references. And even then, sometimes I'll
miss it. But making sure I wrote down the right thing to not be
a distraction. God tried to get everything.
Go over it. Pray about it. But here's the bottom line. Unless
the Lord blesses it by the filling of the Holy Spirit, and it goes
forth in power, and it's spoken in the power of the Spirit, and
it's heard in the power of the Spirit, it's just words. It's
words. On the day of Pentecost, remember,
the apostles, the disciples, 120 of them, they were in the
upper room and they were praying, and suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them,
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. and began to speak with other
tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." So when you see they
were filled with the Holy Ghost, be filled with the Holy Ghost,
and being filled with the Holy Ghost and the Lord, it is an action by God upon His
people whereby they do something. in the power of God's Spirit
for the accomplishing of God's will and God's purpose. So now
we see that this doing is something that believers actually do. I'm
actually preaching right now. I'm actually standing here and
speaking. And you're hearing it. But I'm
telling you that unless God blesses it, filling me with His Holy
Spirit and you with His Holy Spirit to hear. Nothing's being
accomplished. It's the Lord that worketh in
us to will and do of His good pleasure. Now, I want us to look
back at these last three verses again for just a minute. And
I want us to understand what is being said. that the depth,
I've gone over these notes and prayed and asked the Lord's direction
and guidance, and I know in part, I preach in part, you hear in
part, but we do hear. And there's something that's
set forth in these Scriptures this evening that is of vital
importance, vital importance. And it's concerning this thing
of singing. Singing. These next three verses speak
of singing and our attitude toward the Lord when we're singing,
and our attitude to each other when we're singing. Now listen,
here's what we're to do. This is not a suggestion. Whenever we come together, there's
three elements of worship. Three elements. There's the reading
of the Scriptures, just the bare reading of God's Word. What God
has to say is more important than what we have to say, believe
me. Just whenever we stand to read, We read God's Word. What does God have to say? It
is the proclamation of the Word, in the preaching of the Gospel,
the expounding of the Scriptures, and then thirdly, it's in prayer,
asking the Lord's blessing. And where these elements are
found, we are in obedience to the Lord's command coming together
in worship, asking Him to bless it. We've read the Word, we've
prayed, asked the Lord's blessing, now we're going to be preaching
and we've sung some songs. Listen to what God has to say.
But be filled with the Spirit, semicolon. That means whatever
is being said after that is in direct relationship to what was
just said. speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord. Now, this is a blessing that
only human beings possess. This is a marvelous thing. To be able to sing. to be able to take words and
not just speak them, but to actually put them to notes and to change
pitches and singing. Singing. Only a human being can
do that. Only a man can sing. And here we behold One evidence
of being filled with the Spirit. This takes to sing unto the Lord,
making melody in your heart to the Lord. It takes being filled
by the Spirit of God. I can't drum that up. I can't
make it happen. I can tell myself, I'm going
to make myself to be melodious in my heart. I'm going to have
a joyful spirit. How are you going to do that?
How are you going to make yourself do that? I can't. You know what
this is going to take? I'm going to have to ask Him
to do this for me. If you, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more Shall
the Lord give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him? I want
to do this. I don't want to go... Sometimes
I'm so familiar with the songs that we sing that I just pass
over it. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling,
do not pass me by. I on purpose tonight printed
off those songs because we're not familiar with them to make
us be mindful of those words. They were taken out of Scripture. They were written out of Gatsby's
hymns from Scriptures. And I wanted us to be mindful
of what? Because I know how frail I am.
So here's what we're admonished. Speaking to yourselves or speaking
among yourselves. In a congregation, we came together
tonight and we were speaking among ourselves. We were singing
in a congregation, in a group. And this is what we were admonished,
speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Now, I found really no No one,
everybody admitted about the same thing that I'm going to
admit. It's hard. I know that there are some Psalms
that are written and they're called the Psalms. The Psalms. But the Spirit of God differentiates
between psalms and hymns and spiritual psalms. I can't tell
you the depth. I can look them up. I look up
the words and they're basically exactly what we know. I know
what a psalm is. David wrote some of them. Moses
wrote some of them. And they were called the psalms.
And they were sung. I know that they were sung. They
were the words of Scripture. And we sing. There's certain
songs, I mean psalms, that I've heard people sing. And they're
singing those psalms. I wish I knew more of them. It
made me think. I wish I knew more of those.
I wish I knew the melodies. I don't. I wish I did. And hymns. Solomon's Psalms. The song of Deborah, and Barak,
and Hannah's song, when the Lord gave them, they weren't called
psalms, but they were called songs. And I hope my Southerners
differentiated. They're not psalms, they're songs. And spiritual songs. These Gadsby's
hymns, they were songs that were written from the Scriptures,
not exactly as the Scriptures are recited, but they set forth
when Gary picks out songs. We want to sing songs that are
scripturally based, that magnify the glory of Almighty God. Whenever
we say, and sing unto the Lord. I want to say back unto Him that
which He has declared unto me. If I'm not singing the exact
words of Scripture, I want to make sure that whatever I'm singing
is consistent with what the Scripture declares. So, knowing that believers,
we're fearfully and wonderfully made, we have the ability and
the will to honor the Lord by the blessing of singing unto
Him. And we want to do it respectfully.
I mean, no believer that I know is going to pick a psalm and
is going to sing a song that magnifies man's will and man's
work and man's ability. We're just not going to sing
it. Not that. We want to sing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs. And I want to sing it heartfully. And I know, Lord, You must give
me a heart to do so. So singing, according to this
passage, is not just a ritual. We just go through and just get
it done. It's a vital part of worship. And it's an expression outwardly
of the making of melody. And that making melody, what
that is, making melody, actually it's praising. Praising in your
heart to the Lord. When I sing, Lord, make me mindful
to whom I'm singing. I don't want to do this. And our flesh will fight and
tell us, oh, you're doing a great job. You're doing a wonderful
job. But Lord, let me realize that
I'm singing unto the Lord. Singing unto Him. appraising
Him. It's more than words tied together
with harmony. One writer said this, this making
melody, singing and making melody. He says, it means more than just
harmony, it's an agreeable succession of sounds, a succession so regulated
and modulated as to please the ear. But more than just pleasing
to the ear, it is the expression of the mouth in praise to the
Lord that finds its source in that new heart. It's more than
just going through the motions. I don't want to just come and
just sit through a service and just sit. I want to hear. I want to be
admonished. I want to be blessed. I want
to hear the Lord speak to my heart through His Word. This
is what David said. Psalm 717, I will praise the
Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name
of the Lord Most High. You know, whenever the Lord ate
the supper before His crucifixion, You know what they did? This
is the reason why, whenever we finish the Lord's Supper, this
is the reason why we close the service with a song, or a hymn,
or a melody, or a chorus. Here's the reason. Because the
Lord did it. Good enough. Good enough. The
Lord did it. The Scripture says in Matthew
26, 30, and when they had sung a hymn, They went out into the Mount
of Olives. This is how they closed the service.
They ate the bread and drank the wine. They sang a hymn and
then they left. Praising unto the Lord. The scriptures
says in Acts 16.25, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed. They were in jail. and sang praises
unto God, and the prisoners heard them. Praise in the Lord, blessing
the Lord. So, be filled with the Spirit,
speaking among yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. And
then what is our attitude toward the Lord? In our singing, verse
20, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, giving thanks always. You think this singing is ever
going to end? You think this singing will ever
end? Hold your place right there and
turn to Revelation 5, 8. Revelation 5, 8. We're singing
of praises unto the Lord. This is how important this is. Revelation 5, 8 to 10. Revelation chapter 5, verse 8.
And when he had taken the book, The four beasts and four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers
of the 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 has redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made us unto
our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth."
What were they doing in heaven? They were singing. Singing. Singing of the Lord. Giving thanks
always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God that God Almighty
was pleased to love us. Why did He set His affection
on us? Because He chose to. Chose us in Christ. Thank you,
Lord. Thank you, Lord, for choosing
me. I'd have never chosen you if you'd not chosen me. I'd have
never loved you if you'd never loved me. Thank you, Lord Jesus,
for redeeming me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for quickening
me, for sealing me. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for teaching
me, bringing back to my memory. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for directing
my steps and bringing me right here and reminding me that the
Lord's here. But listen, giving thanks always
for all things. Lord, thank You that I've got
a mind right now. Thank You that You've given me
strength to be able to stand here and praise and bless Your
Holy... Thank You that You've given me
a family. Thank you for this family here. Lord, thank you
for the sister churches that we have. Thank you that you gave
me something to eat. Thank you for that breath that
I just took. Lord, it was so good to breathe. Giving thanks
always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the Lord blesses us. Oh,
every day, how the benefits that He has given us, what do we deserve
of that? Did I deserve, did He owe me
a breath? Everything that I have that He's
given me, Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit. and remind
me to be thankful. Lord, forgive me for my silly
attitude of unthankfulness. This life is going to be over.
I don't have very long. I know
that. You know, somebody said, well, you know, you might have
a few more years. What's a few more years in the
light of eternity? Right now, just a blip. I mean,
I just happen to be standing here at this moment in time right
now. You just give it a few more passing
suns and if some of you are still here, you say, well, yeah, I
think I do remember him maybe. Lord, let me be thankful right
now. And quit setting my eyes and
affections on things and mess and stuff. that does not more
mean anything than a hill of beans, just thanking the Lord. That song that I just read, the
song of Moses, when God delivered Israel, through the Red Sea and
here comes Pharaoh and this is what I'm going to do. I'm going
to go in there and I'm going to take my sword. I'm going to
cut your head off. I'm going to do that. I'm going
to do that. I'm going to get you. I'm going to do that. And
the Lord blew. He just blew. And the waters
came crashing in. Moses and all the people stood
back and everything that they had feared was gone. It sank
like a rock. Bless the Lord. Oh my soul, all
that's within me, I'm telling you, we have such
a fleetingness about it. Let me be thankful in this fleetingness. And in closing, our attitude
toward each other. Here we are, sang some songs,
heard some Scriptures, prayed and asked God's blessing. And
what is our attitude toward each other? Verse 21, Submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear, in the reverence of the Lord. I thank God that He's given us
one more time to be together. I look out and I see you and
I think, I'd hate to not be able to see you. You know, I'd hate
to... not see you. If the Lord took
one of His own, it would be because it was precious in His sight,
and I know that, but man, I'd miss you. I'd miss looking, I'd
miss hearing your voice. Let me have an attitude toward
you in the reverence, in the fear of the Lord, to submit myself. May we be on guard. On these
matters that are not concerning the gospel of God's grace that
would disturb the peace of the assembly of the Lord's people,
let me have a right attitude toward you. And let me do it
as unto the Lord. That takes God's Spirit to do
that. Matthew Henry said something
I thought was so good, I wrote it down. He said, there is a
mutual submission that Christians owe one to another. condescending
to bear one another's burdens, not advancing ourselves above
others, or domineering over one another, or giving laws to one
another, we must be of a yielding and of a submissive spirit, ready
all duties in the respective places and stations that God
has allotted to us in this world. and do it in the fear of the
Lord. The Lord put us all together. A lot of you were born right
here, born right in this spot. I mean, you live right just within
a couple of miles, probably where you were born, maybe raised up.
And here I am, I'm from, you know, Louisiana, South Louisiana. And Almighty God has allotted
us this privilege to be able to be here, placed us together
for this particular purpose, this particular time. May we
be found in the fear of the Lord, submitting ourselves one to another. Colossians 3.16, summing this
up, says, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. May the Lord be pleased to fill
us with His Spirit. Ask Him. Ask Him. He said you
have not because you ask not. Isn't that amazing? He said ask,
knock, seek. Grant us the grace to hear the
Scriptures read in the power of the Lord. Grant us the grace
to hear the Gospel preached, and may we be given grace to
sing these songs of Zion, singing unto the Lord, singing in the
fear of the Lord, making melody in our heart to the Lord. I'm going to read a Scripture
to you that was so amazing to me. Do you know the Song of Moses
is the first recorded song in the Scriptures? That's the first
recorded song. The Song of Moses. And you read
the words, and I mean it was pertaining to the deliverance
of Israel. from their enemies. But I'm telling
you that the song of Moses, which was truly a song that they sang
and it had words and it was talking about the chariots and the horses
and drowning, but what was happening was there was a beautiful picture
there of God's deliverance of His people from the power of
sin, the captivity of sin. They were taken out of Egypt.
And sin would pursue them, and sin would have them, but sin
is not going to have dominion over you. And he sang the song,
and it was called the Song of Moses. The Song of Moses. Now I want you to listen to this.
Revelation chapter 15, verses 1, 2, 3. And I saw another sign
in heaven, great and marvelous. seven angels, having the seven
last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And
I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that
had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and
over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea
of glass, having the harps of God, and they sing the song of
Moses, the servant of God, And the song of the Lamb, saying,
Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true
are thy ways, thou King of saints." The first song that was ever
recorded in the Scriptures. The Scripture says it's the song
that's going to be sung again in heaven. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart. And may we be mindful when we
do sing that we sing, making melody in our heart unto the
Lord, in the fear of the Lord, for His sake.