Let's Sing Praise To Our God, Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Now, here's what's interesting. What will be the first thing you'll be able to do if you're controlled by the Spirit of God? Here we go. He says, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

Is that shocking to you? What's the first thing you'll do if you are controlled by the Spirit of God in your life? You'll sing.

You'll make melody in your heart. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now, as once again, he shows us how God's Word meets our world. For the Lord will vindicate his people and will have compassion on his servants. He talked about, look, if you keep in sin, I'm going to judge you. But if you repent, I'll vindicate you.

Why? I'll have compassion on you. And most of what we sing has a great deal to do with that. You see who God is, who we are, what God has done. God loves us in such a way and he wants us to respond to that through our love and worship of him.

Notice in verse 10, it says he is talking about Israel. You find him in a desert land and in a howling place of a wilderness. He encircled him. He cared for him. He guarded him as the pupil of his eye. And like an angel, I mean, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, he spread his wings and caught them and he carried them on his opinions. And he says, and the Lord alone guided him. He does an awful lot for us.

So our singing when we get together is we sing who God is and then we sing what's he done and what are we like. You already did that today. Did you think about that?

I mean, be honest with yourself. Did you think about that? Or did you just simply say, oh boy, how many more?

Let's get this rolling. Or did you just simply do the words and not even think about what you're singing? You know, I'd hate to give you a test right now to tell me exactly the songs you're saying. It's only five, but I wonder how many you'd get. I don't really think about it.

I think you should. In fact, let me remind you. The first song we sung was Great Things by Phil Wickham. Great things.

Just how did it start? Come, let us worship our King. Come, let us bow at his feet.

He's done great things. Did you feel that when you sang it or did you just simply go through the tune? See, it's a very important part of this. The second song we sang is Glory Be, Chris Tomlin. And one of the things that's written in there is, sing, he said, for the one who has rescued me. He said, with the heavens, I will sing, I will lift you high. He rescued me.

I want to thank him for that. Three, I got saved, Selah. The chains of the past are broken at last. I got saved. I'm undone by the mercy of Jesus.

I'm done by the goodness of the Lord. Sing that from the heart. See, that's a very important thing to get to sing. But he did not sing at all. I don't sing. Chris Tomlin again, the God who listens, the great creator of all the stars above, and yet you draw close to me. He said, I'm not just hoping.

I'm not just wishing. I know I'm praying to the God who listens, who knows me, who loves me, who never will fail me. He said, who tells me that I'm his own. That's worship. God loves us to worship.

He commands us to sing this way to him. The last one is, mercy is more, Shane and Shane. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. Our sins, they are many, but his mercy is more. He remembers them no more. His blood was the payment.

His life was the cost. Wow. And we're singing that to God. Part of the problem that we have is somehow, and I've gone over this in the past, you view yourself as, in a sense, an audience and a critic of what goes on up here.

I mean, come on. You got in the car. Hon, what'd you thought? Oh, that sermon, I had no idea what he's talking about. Didn't do a thing for me. What do you think of music?

Yeah, that wasn't my favorites. We critique what we do, like we're an audience. Let me explain something. You're not an audience.

Not at all. You see, you know who's getting evaluated today? You, every one of you. Every single one, God is looking in your heart and said, are you worshiping me? You see, my job or Matt's job, we're just directors or prompters. Our job is to help you get to know God better. That's what I'm trying to teach you from the word of God. That's what we do in song.

You see, so we're the prompters and then you're the performers. Some time ago, I read of a pastor and guy was coming out of his church and said, pastor, I got to tell you something. I didn't get much out of that worship service today. No, no, you've all thought it. You know it. And the pastor said to him, that's good. We weren't worshiping you. See, do you think of it that way though? You see, we start viewing ourselves as the audience and we're going to decide what we thought of it.

Don't do that. You're here to worship God. He's the audience. He reads the intentions of your heart.

He expects you to worship him through song he 55 times commanded you to sing praises to his name. And it's not just here. This might be bad news for you. It's not just once a week. I mean, once a week I have to get together with these other people and sing. Yes, but it's way more than that.

It's way more than that. Turn with me now to Ephesians chapter five, Ephesians chapter five. Now, if you understand the epistle to the Ephesians, if you understand it, there's something you'll know about it. It's typical of Paul. The first three chapters of the book of Ephesians, Paul tells the Ephesian believers what God's done for them, just how special they are in God's eyes. He not only saved them by his grace and all that, but in Ephesians one, Paul writes them and says, God has blessed you and me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. That's an amazing statement. There's no spiritual blessing God hasn't bestowed on you.

Every single one of them. And he tells us over and over through these first three chapters, all of this greatness that it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ. And then he gets to chapter four, and when he gets to chapter four, verse one, he says, therefore, I the prisoner of the Lord implore you to live in a manner worthy of your calling what you have been called.

I've told you what God's done for you. Now I want to tell you what you should be doing for God. You should live and walk in a manner worthy of your calling.

And that's where this comes in. So as you read this, you start thinking, man, this is a lot of responsibility. I've got to imitate God. I got to let no unwholesome word come out of my mouth.

I've got to speak the truth and love. And if you're honest with yourself, you say, I don't think I can do that. I just don't think I can do that. And God says, no, you can't. But I can. See, that's why I gave you the Holy Spirit.

I can do this. Now, the only question is this, if you let me. You see, if you let me, I can do all this through you. Now, if you won't let me, I can't. And so here's what God comes to. And notice we get to verse 18 of chapter five. It says, do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

What an interesting analogy. But I want you to think about this in a moment. What happens when you're drunk?

Do you lose anything? How about control? You see, and then we use that as an excuse. Oh, I'm sorry I did that or said that, you know, I was drunk.

Yeah, why? Because I'm not controlled by my will. I'm controlled by the liquor. I'm controlled by it.

That's what it means to be drunk. I'm out of control. I can't drive my car right.

I can't do anything right. That's the analogy Paul uses. And he says, don't get drunk with wine.

That's dissipation. Let me paraphrase. Don't get drunk with wine. That's just stupid.

It's just stupid to get drunk with wine. He said, but be filled with the Spirit of God. Now, we have the Spirit of God. We're indwelt by the Spirit of God, baptized by the Spirit of God. We'll become a Christian. But we're not filled with the Spirit of God in this way.

The word fill there doesn't mean like filling up your gas tank. It means control, the same thing that the liquor does. You need to be controlled by the Spirit of God, not just have the Spirit of God, but be controlled by the Spirit of God in your life.

So that's what he says. Now, here's what's interesting. What will be the first thing you'll be able to do if you're controlled by the Spirit of God? Here we go. He says, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

Is that shocking to you? What's the first thing you'll do if you are controlled by the Spirit of God in your life? You'll sing. You'll make melody in your heart. Now, just ask yourself the question, why am I saying I don't like this thing?

How do I be part of that? That doesn't come from the Holy Spirit of God. That comes from your flesh.

That probably comes from some pride issue or something. Oh, I'm not really a singer. Be careful with this. This is important stuff to God. One commentator wrote this, the first consequence of the Spirit-filled life, as that Paul mentioned, was not mountain-moving faith, not an ecstatic spiritual experience, not dynamic speaking ability or any such thing.

It was simply a heart that sings. Joyful, exuberant, heartfelt singing is one of the evidence that a church is Spirit-filled. Lifeless, listless, apathetic worship is not even worship at all. It is a sinful disregard for the majesty and grace of our great God, and it shows that we are not under the control of the Holy Spirit, who produces this overflowing joy in God's people. It reveals that we are not captured by God's abundant grace, his overwhelming love.

We're not thankful for his many blessings in us at all. It's amazing. Now, I know what you might be saying. I'm not like that.

I mean, you don't understand. I'm here at Fellowship Bible Church because I'm all about the Bible, okay? And I'll give you that. So, go with me to Colossians chapter 3 verse 16. Colossians 3 verse 16. Notice, Paul says some wonderful things to us, even in verse 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Indeed, he said, you were called in one body, be thankful. Peaceful and thankful, that's what you should be. Now, he says this, let the word of Christ, this is it, word of Christ, let the word of Christ indwell you richly, dwell richly within you.

Wow, that's why we're here, right? Well, know the Bible, okay. He says, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another. Okay, I like that. Now, watch. With Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

What's he saying? You're a Bible person, you love the word of God, you're a singing person. It's the first thing that when the word of God indwells you richly, the first thing that happens is you sing praises to God. You say, no, no, I go with a bunch of guys to study and we argue about theology. That's not being filled letting the word of Christ indwell you richly. You see, it's the same exact consequence of having the Holy Spirit fill you. Paul wrote both of them.

It's the same thing. You see, it's not an elective to us. We're given 55 commands to sing praises to God. It's a privilege that we have in order to sing to God how grateful and thankful we are. Just some of the verses that I've read in the Bible.

Just let me read them to you. Let all who take refuge in the Lord be glad. Let them ever sing for joy. And he says, you may shelter them that those who love your name will exalt you in song. Sing for joy in the Lord.

O righteous ones, praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the leer. Sing praises to him with a harp of 10 strings.

Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy. O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.

Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord.

Bless his name. Proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day. O sing to the Lord a new song for he has done wonderful things.

His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for us. Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness and come before him with joyful singing. Praise the Lord for it is good to sing praises to our God.

It is pleasant and praises becoming. Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of all the godly ones.

And it's over and over again. Come together. Sing. Sing praises to me.

Worship me. Now some of you might be thinking this, but I don't feel like singing. And wouldn't I be a hypocrite if I sang and I don't feel like it?

Yes, you're right. You would be. But what does not feeling like singing as a child of God make you?

You see, I don't feel like singing. Okay, what's that make you? It makes you ungrateful, makes you unfaithful and clearly it makes you disobedient to the Lord's command. Clearly. It's not an elective people. It's a privilege we have to sing praises to our God.

One last thing. If you don't really like singing praises to God, and I don't mean this in every way, I know the changes will take place, I'm just going to say for the effect of it, you're not going to like heaven. You're not liking it. You see, you can't come in late to a worship service in heaven so I can skip the music. I can't get there historically or if someone's to my side, move my lips a little and just think they think I'm singing.

You can't do that. You're not going to like it. Go with me to Revelation chapter five. Revelation chapter five.

Here's one scene in heaven. Verse eight. When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song singing, worthy are you to take the book and to break the seals for you were, he says, slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. They first talk about how great God is. They tell you exactly what the lamb did and it also implies clearly what we as fallen people needed.

Same thing. He says, you made them a kingdom of priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth. And 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 and myriads and thousands of thousands saying with one voice, worthy is the lamb who 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 the 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 in worship. Myriads and myriads is ten thousands of ten thousands. There are millions and millions or billions and billions of being all singing the same thing. What do you think that's like? Now for some of you, well, if I don't sing then no one will notice.

You'll notice because you should want to. There's only one reason you're there, the greatness of our God. There's no other reason that you're there. See, how could we not be grateful and thankful? How could we not praise him in song?

How could we not do things like this? Now one last one. Revelation 15, just verses three and four. Revelation 15.

Because I want to mention something here. Verse three, and they sang, notice, they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, the song of the lamb saying great and marvelous are your works, oh Lord God the almighty, righteous and true are your ways, king of the nations. Who will not fear, oh Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy, for all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. They're singing, same thing, right?

But notice what they're singing. Verse three, the song of Moses. First song in the Bible, Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32, and in the future with everybody there, guess what we're singing? Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32.

So you might want to read those and look them over. You'll be singing them for a long time. You see, that song meant so much to God because it so clearly reveals who He is, what He's done, and who we are and what we needed. See, that's why singing is such an important thing to God. And it should be an important thing to us. God's people have always been, should be now and forever will be, the singing people.

It's going to be that way. We are commanded to sing. We are encouraged to sing. And according to Paul, we are able to sing through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And if you aren't singing privately or corporately at all, then you need to ask yourself the question, why? Why am I not singing?

Let's pray. Father, it's so easy for us to sort of forget the true nature of our singing to you. We're surrounded by music. And that surrounding music around us is always based on the musician's abilities to either play an instrument or to sing. And then we find ourselves as the critics of the music and as an audience. And the music we like, we even purchase so we can listen to it and it gives us great joy to listen to it. But Father, through all that, we condition ourselves to be simply listeners, but not active ourselves.

But you have none of that. You have commanded us to sing praises to your name. It's a privilege for us to do so. It doesn't matter at all how perfect the music is. It doesn't matter to you. What matters to you is an expression of a joyful heart.

And he doesn't care whether you call it music or noise. Father, to you it's the same. It's an act of worship on our part. We are so grateful for who you are and what you have done for us. Forever, Father, we will thank you by singing to you praise that you deserve. In Christ's name.

Amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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