Worship through music

Really, it's impossible to be encumbered when one is depending fully on the Holy Spirit - worship in His power can never be anything less than full. If my worship is full and unencumbered, it's not because of any talent or skill of my own, but because of everything the Lord Jesus has done, and what He is now doing, and what the Spirit is doing. There is perfect liberty before God because of what divine Persons have done and are doing.

Amen Grant ! I agree
The outward things are just an add on or bonus feature one can add to their worship.
God is Spirit and true worship unto Him would be in Spirit as well.
God Bless
Jim
 
None of us who are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ are "poor sinners" any longer. We are the righteousness of God in Christ.
Well, exactly! God took us up when we were poor sinners, with nothing to offer God. We have Christ for righteousness. As I've been at pains to point out before, we could offer nothing of works to God before we were saved - much less so after we're saved! It has to be Christ, all the way.
 
I believe it was the Gnostics who were the first to say our humanity is evil.
That's true, and that idea really is foolishness, for sure. There are those who claim that we're 'dead to nature', which is simply confusion. Nature is God's ordering, it's right in its place.
 
Grant forgive me for butting in on this. I was not going to get into this topic again but one thing you said caught my attention........

If you are an old sinner then get born again for you can NOT be a born again new creation in Christ and an old sinner saved by grace. That my friend is an old worn out religious line that should not ever be said by a believer...........

Old sinner - then saved by Grace - then made new in Christ and the old is passed away and all things are new............Can an old sinner be found in this new ? ABSOLUTELY NOT

STOP SEEING your self as the devil wants you to and start seeing your self as WHO YOU TRULY ARE..... in CHRIST...obtw you aint poor in Christ either............
God Bless
Jim
Jim, I couldn't agree more. The way I expressed myself wasn't clear - what I was trying to convey was that I came to the Saviour with nothing, as poor and sinful, and now He is my everything. I'm rich in Him! What could I possibly bring of myself to the presence of God, when Jesus has secured everything for the Father's pleasure? That was my thought.
 
Jim, I couldn't agree more. The way I expressed myself wasn't clear - what I was trying to convey was that I came to the Saviour with nothing, as poor and sinful, and now He is my everything. I'm rich in Him! What could I possibly bring of myself to the presence of God, when Jesus has secured everything for the Father's pleasure? That was my thought.
Amen !! Now that's more like it.
Blessings
 
Grant could it not be said that true worship that God desires would flow from the heart ?
Anything else added would simply become a tool or form in which one is using in their worship.

I have begun to worship my Heavenly Father form the heart and then later I began to spin a little and sway and move about...... does this make my worship void from these things ? No but then we cant say that these things are the true worship God requires of us either.

My point is simply this.......... I agree with you that it must come from the heart..........
anything else we do is simply an added event........example.......I am sitting at the keyboards and I begin to praise and worship Him.......I am lost in this worship and then feel led to play something on the keyboards. My hands get lost in my worship and the sounds become a sweet sweet sound unto His ear..........

The music was not the main focus or point of worship........My voice from my heart was BUT the music was still a apart of it.......

Grant I am not arguing with you one bit. If anything simply putting all things into a perspective that maybe everyone can accept and agree on............
Hope your days have been filled with Peace and relaxation........
God Bless My Friend
Jim

Yes, that's precisely it, the true worship which God desires flows from the heart - that's the core truth that I feel we have to hold on to.

What I have in mind is worship in the assembly, collective worship. Paul says, "Let all things be done to edification." (1 Corinthians 14:26). Worship flows from the heart to God, and the outward expression of it should be for edification. If a brother prays, he prays out loud so that the assembly can benefit. If we sing, we sing together. If someone has an impression, they speak about it. If someone has an interpretation, they share it. And so the body is built up. The assembly, as we see it in the scriptures, is a place of peace, order, and edification.

If we consider the issue in practical terms, I think we see why what appeals purely to nature - instrumental music, art, oratory, and so on - is excluded from any description of or instruction about the assembly in the word of God. If we bring what's purely of nature into the assembly, it's divisive. Take music, for example. You might like a certain kind of music, I might be fond of a different style, Euphemia might have different tastes, Penion might enjoy something different again. Well, there's nothing wrong with that, we all have our likes and dislikes. But if we bring that into the assembly, then it can only disrupt and divide. We see that plainly in Christendom. So many denominations, so many different tastes indulged. Many professing Christians seem to choose their church in line with their musical preferences, or their taste in art, or the kind of society they like to move in. In contrast to all that is the spiritual gifts that we see described in the word of God all have one thing in common: they unite and build up the saints together. We should all be of one mind and thinking the same thing, and the activity of the Spirit tends to that. But bringing in elements which appeal only to nature is bound to be a source of stumbling for many. I don't know how many times I've heard Christians say they left a certain church because the music had changed and it was too raucous, or that it was too quiet and they want to go somewhere more lively, or that they don't like the new pastor's style of preaching. The public breakdown of the unity of the Church is something that's just accepted in Christendom, and in part that's because so many of us believe that our tastes and predilections are far more important than they really are. The world has infected Christendom with the leaven of individualism, and the notion that self must be asserted in every area of life. That's not how Christ's assembly operates. This is what Paul is addressing so strongly in the first epistle to the Corinthians. They were carnal, and bringing their natural tastes into the assembly.

To conclude on a positive note, we needn't be in the dark about this. Studying the scriptures and praying for greater understanding and appreciation of what the assembly is will no doubt be rewarded.
 
Well, exactly! God took us up when we were poor sinners, with nothing to offer God. We have Christ for righteousness. As I've been at pains to point out before, we could offer nothing of works to God before we were saved - much less so after we're saved! It has to be Christ, all the way.

In our redeemed state as new creatures in Christ, our works in Him are acceptable---and desired by Him.
 
2 Samuel 6 is often made reference to - I've referred to it myself, the "new cart", innovation which is not according to God's mind. Verses 14 and 15 have been noted, because David danced and Michal despised him in her heart. What does that mean? The Spirit of God has ensured that the incident was recorded for us. Like many things in the Old Testament scripture, it's a type. I think it's safe to say that if something is a type in scripture, its import, its effect, for us - as believers - isn't a literal one: it's a spiritual one. And I think it's also right to say that if we take a type and apply it literally, we can't have the spiritual import of it as well. That's why it's vital for us to have God's mind and be intelligent regarding what He is doing at the current time. There's an immense amount of instruction in looking back over what God has done - with Israel for example. But we are not Jews. We are believers, in a different relationship with God, before Him on a different basis. An entirely superior relationship and basis too, as we're in Christ! We have to appropriate for ourselves the things which belong to Christianity. We won't get them by borrowing the things which belonged to a past dispensation. There's more to be said about that, but for the moment it might be useful to look at 2 Samuel 6:14-16.


I don't know very much about this scripture, but there are a few things which I can glean from it. David danced, and it was in the spirit of worship. He danced before the ark. He wore a linen ephod. A linen ephod is a priestly garment - here David is both king and priest, and filling out that with might. We see Christ in that, the King and great High Priest, and we can connect that with the thought of us being kings and priests to God, through His great work. Michal despised David in her heart. His actions exposed what was in her heart. We should never, ever despise what is really worship, what is really of Christ and speaks to God of Him. Michal here is described as the daughter of Saul. She's connected with that line of things which was set aside, the side that had failed (and it was ended decisively when Michael's womb was shut up, the generation was ended) and been removed when David came in, when David replaced Saul as king. When God sets anything aside, when He in His wisdom allows something to fail, it's so He can bring in something infinitely better. Perhaps Michal found the ties of blood more attractive than the bond of marriage. The husband was despised by her, she wasn't in line with his thoughts, she couldn't understand why he would dance before the ark. That can never be the feeling of the Church, the bride. Her whole heart is for Him. What she once knew, according to nature, has gone out of sight - she waits for the heavenly Bridegroom.


Now, I'm sure that there are many others who could open up that scripture with deeper spiritual insight and more clarity than I could - but all I want to show is that it can be opened up. If we take the thing on the face of it, as an instruction, we lose out on the spiritual import. Taking it as it's meant, as a type, we get the spiritual import and instruction as well. To the Jews, the Old Testament is a literal history and a literal and moral instruction. To us, it's so much more than that. It is that to us, but so much more. Christianity is always more and better! How could it be anything else, when it's in and through and by Christ, His work and Person!
 
Hebrews 7, 8, 9 and 10 really bear on this truth, and they bring out the distinction between the old and the new. Usually I like to quote the scriptures that I refer to in full, but of course this is too much. That said, I'd like to pick out a few verses here, and I'd encourage the brethren who might be following this discussion to study these chapters for themselves and see the whole context.

"Now a summary of the things of which we are speaking is, We have such a one high priest who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens; minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man. For every high priest is constituted for the offering both of gifts and sacrifices; whence it is needful that this one also should have something which he may offer. If then indeed he were upon earth, he would not even be a priest, there being those who offer the gifts according to the law, (who serve the representation and shadow of heavenly things, according as Moses was oracularly told when about to make the tabernacle; for See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern which has been shewn to thee in the mountain.) But now he has got a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is mediator of a better covenant, which is established on the footing of better promises. For if that first was faultless, place had not been sought for a second. For finding fault, he says to them, Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant as regards the house of Israel, and as regards the house of Juda..." - Hebrews 8:1-8

"In that he says New, he has made the first old; but that which grows old and aged is near disappearing. The first therefore also indeed had ordinances of service, and the sanctuary, a worldly one." - Hebrews 8:13-9:1
 
I don't relegate worship to works, I'm saying that works are not worship. God Himself draws worship from the heart of the believer, and nothing of works can add to that.

I believe through the totality of what you have said so far that you believe that the use of instruments and the other expressions of worship, such as dance and even art are works of the flesh...but they are NOT. What comes from the heart (spirit of man) in expression of worship is from the Spirit of God (where He dwells). Where one has experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that person learns to experience the freedom of worshiping with abandon, holding nothing back. God is literally present in it.
 
I believe through the totality of what you have said so far that you believe that the use of instruments and the other expressions of worship, such as dance and even art are works of the flesh...but they are NOT. What comes from the heart (spirit of man) in expression of worship is from the Spirit of God (where He dwells). Where one has experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that person learns to experience the freedom of worshiping with abandon, holding nothing back. God is literally present in it.
That's a fine theory, for sure, but can you substantiate it from the scriptures?
 
Can you show me, from the scriptures?

Here is the wonderful teaching I received and share...it focuses mainly on the kind of music we need to enjoy, but the proper way to worship and the way in which God desires it is woven throughout.

MUSIC AND ITS INFLUENCE IN OUR LIVES



We have a desire to change our lifestyle when we come to Christ and seek a deeper relationship with Him, but sometimes we don’t know how. In the encounter (this is the first weekend encounter we experience at Living Hope) we are taught about the influence of secular music over our lives. For many, music is their main hobby, and it’s hard for us to imagine how to handle this aspect now that we are believers. Music was created by God, but twisted by Satan to deceive many, and to steal the worship that only God deserves. We have to keep in mind the fact that we have music in each part of our body: breathing, in our heartbeat, in each molecule of our being. Because we have music within us, we are attracted to different melodies and rhythms. It is natural to us because God created us that way.


We can’t forbid ourselves to listen to music, but we do have to know how to use it in a way that won’t bring us negative consequences. Music will influence our behaviour. For example, people with nervous disorders or with hyperactive children can play soft music to calm them and to reduce anxiety. Frequently we move our feet, fingers, or head to the rhythms that we listen to, and we unconsciously sing songs that we may not even like! We do it because that song sticks in our minds.


THE ENEMY’S PLAN THROUGH MUSIC

Satan made a plan to get inside our minds and hearts through music, so that he can control our behaviours, and rule our lives. Then he is able to lead us to his original purpose of destruction and death, both physically and spiritually. Satan wants to steal everything that we love…our families, feelings, friends, and finally ourselves as people.


John 10:10…

The thief comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.


SATAN’S PURPOSES FOR MUSIC

TO STEAL GOD’S PRAISE AND THE ABUNDANT LIFE OF THE NEW BELIEVER

Satan will steal the honour and worship that belongs only to God, by getting us to sing and dance to melodies that glorify the enemy. These songs have direct messages that proclaim sins that God hates, such as fornication, adultery, sexual sins, unforgiveness, and revenge. This is how he steals the souls of God’s followers, and takes away the abundant life that Jesus made possible on the cross.


When we sing songs with messages such as, “feel me, please me”, we put words and pictures in our minds that will awaken our flesh, our passions, and sexual sins, with the goal of making us slaves to sin again. In my experience, I have seen that the person that can’t renounce secular music still has the world in his heart, and that person’s Lord is not God, but music. It is our responsibility to watch ourselves…to evaluate if what we sing or what we are filling our minds with would be the same thing that Jesus would fill His life with if He were in our place.


Luke 11:23

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. (Scatters away from the Truth and also leads others away from Truth)


Once a young girl began to walk with God. She went to an encounter weekend and saw God’s power in her life which helped her quit everything that was not beneficial to her life, such as secular music and a boyfriend who would constantly call her when he was drunk. In spite of this, she allowed certain kinds of freedoms for herself with secular music, especially the dance kind. This caused hr to re-enter her old lifestyle, once again awakening in her the desire for parties with her old friends, her old boyfriend and other things that didn’t please God. Her end was very sad. She ended up without God, without a boyfriend, and with a son who had no father. This young lady wasted her life and destroyed God’s plan for her life. She made music and her boyfriend her god.


IT WILL DESTROY THE LIVES OF ITS FOLLOWERS

Music has the power to destroy its listeners. Mick Jagger, the “Lucifer of Rock”, said, “We always work to lead peoples’ minds and wills. The majority of other groups do the same.” In concerts, people are led through music to do things that they wouldn’t normally do. Young people, for example, will strip themselves naked, or will have sex, or do drugs, or engage in violent acts. Not only does it affect their actions, but also it makes them feel depressed, like failures, and lonely, discontent and suicidal.


IT SPRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY KILLS ITS FOLLOWERS

The person who spends the entire day listening to secular music feels the desire to do what he listens to. If he listens to music that speaks about things that can’t be, sadness, frustration, and the pain that life has given him, he will end up depressed, bitter, drinking, or committing suicide.


I know a case of a young high school student who lived with his brothers. He had very bad friends. One day he began to feel a deep loneliness. He began to attend rock concerts where young people fought and did drugs. After a period of time, this young boy said to his family that he had made a serious commitment, and without any explanation, he shot himself the next day. The enemy accomplishes his plan of killing those who fall into his trap by convincing them to end their lives and by killing the hope in them of ever finding a better life. He takes us to a place of torment where we can never leave!


Many believers fall into Satan’s trap. They think that they are strong enough to resist temptation. They think that they can rule their lives, but they end up slaves of their pasts (alcohol, illicit sex, violence, and evil) just like all the rest. They become sons of the devil, and they lose the life that Jesus gave them on the cross. God wants to give us abundant life. You can experience it when you fill your mind with things that edify and build you up. Music should bring you comfort, peace, bring you closer to God, and make you a better person.


CHRISTIAN MUSIC IS A TRANSMITTER OF LIFE

TRANSMITS PEACE AND CALMS YOUR SPIRIT

Music influences our emotions and our mood…what we listen to will determine our thoughts, actions and attitudes. King Saul, for example, when he stopped walking with God, lost his protection and an evil spirit came over him to torment him. Only when David played music for him did he feel any relief, as the evil spirit would leave him. (1Samuel 16:23) When we play Christian music, we release the presence of God over our lives and our home. We cast out every spirit so that we can feel the peace of the presence of God.

Just like Saul, music can have a good influence, and we will feel better.



IT’S A USEFUL TOOL TO WIN SOULS

There is some excellent Christian music out there… music that is pleasant to the ear, and is also a positive influence. We can share this music with non-believers, because its quality is as good if not better than that of secular music. It is an eye-opener to those who believe that Christian music is boring or mediocre. God is the God of excellence!


In 1996, the sports arena in Bogota, Colombia hosted a Christian group called Petra. As they did a presentation with the objective of evangelizing and showing the world a different musical alternative, the impact in those who attended, including the media, was strong! There were positive comments made about the quality of Petra’s music, and the spirit moved in the concert and there was a distinctly felt peace. After the concert, more than 800 people accepted Christ.


IT TRANSMITS MESSAGES THAT EDIFY

1Corinthians 6:12…

Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.


When we choose our music, we must choose those messages that make you feel better as a person, bringing you confidence, giving you strength, and drawing you close to God with its music and lyrics.



HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH MUSIC NOW THAT YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN?

1. Don’t allow small compromises with secular music. You will be easily trapped by it.

2. Determine to think on other things when you have to listen to secular music.

3. Don’t listen to music that will bring memories of the past that can take you back to your old practices. It brings a grieving or an unhealthy nostalgia where you could easily glory in past sin.

4. Do things before God, keeping transparency in every area. Be conscious that the Holy Spirit sees all things, and He is there to help you be faithful.

5. When you don’t want to contaminate your heart, speak in other tongues in your mind, memorize Bible verses, and think on the good thing that god has given you or others. These things will edify you.

6. Destroy the music that made you a slave to sin in the past. Believe that God is powerful, and that He can give you much more than all we can ask or understand!

7. Buy good Christian music, according to your taste, and listen to Christian radio stations.


Acts 19:19…

A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.



MY NOTES:
Recommended book to read: “ The Rebirth of Music”, by Lamar Boschman ISBN 0914903802


1. The first musician: Lucifer

Ezekiel 28:12b-18, Isaiah 14:11-14
- He was extremely beautiful

- He was an angel of music…tambourines, pipes and 6-stringed harps were built into his body.

- He was the worship leader (the cherub that covers)

- Responsible that there was a continual worship and praise before the Throne.

- Led angels in constant praise and worship

- Any other reason for music was an abomination…a violation. Music was only to glorify God.

2. The fall of Lucifer

- His pride: Isaiah 14:12-14 (“ I will…”)

- Cast out of heaven: Isaiah 14:15

- Ezekiel 28:14-19

- Music fell as well, and became secular at hat time. He began to create music for himself, and for his own glory. Revelation 12:7-9

3. The spirit of Pride

- Proverbs 8:13; 11:2; 16:18; 29:23; Isaiah 2:17

4. Music and the spiritual realm: Affects our spirit

  1. Satanic Influence: John 4:24; John 8:44
- Just as the Holy Spirit falls upon us in worship, so the devil can cause an evil unction to fall on us in secular music. It is not a counterfeit, but real and powerful.

- John 10:10: He comes to steal, kill and destroy (all with lies)...that is his manifesto


  1. Music and God’s Presence:
- Psalms 100:2; 95: 2; 100:4; 22:3

- We are to approach God with worship, adoration and praise.

5. What kind of music should a Christian listen to?

- Listen to music that has a different spirit and a different purpose! Music that leads to and celebrates life and hope!

- 3 types of songs: 1. Songs of the World: Pretty love songs, Nothing wrong with them—expressing love and admiration for a person or objects on a natural level.

2. Songs of the Flesh: Lust or dirty

3. Songs of the Devil: Dark, evil, blasphemic, exalting Lucifer, death, suicide and murder…1 John 2:16-17; Proverbs 23:7


6. Questions to consider when choosing music to listen to:

  1. What is the spirit behind the song?
  2. Who or what does it exalt? The world? The flesh? The devil? Jesus?
  3. Does it edify the believer? Philippians 4:8
Make a choice to have a positive answer to all questions!


Acts 19:19

Deuteronomy 7:26
 
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Here is the wonderful teaching I received and share...it focuses mainly on the kind of music we need to enjoy, but the proper way to worship and the way in which God desires it is woven throughout.

MUSIC AND ITS INFLUENCE IN OUR LIVES



We have a desire to change our lifestyle when we come to Christ and seek a deeper relationship with Him, but sometimes we don’t know how. In the encounter (this is the first weekend encounter we experience at Living Hope) we are taught about the influence of secular music over our lives. For many, music is their main hobby, and it’s hard for us to imagine how to handle this aspect now that we are believers. Music was created by God, but twisted by Satan to deceive many, and to steal the worship that only God deserves. We have to keep in mind the fact that we have music in each part of our body: breathing, in our heartbeat, in each molecule of our being. Because we have music within us, we are attracted to different melodies and rhythms. It is natural to us because God created us that way.


We can’t forbid ourselves to listen to music, but we do have to know how to use it in a way that won’t bring us negative consequences. Music will influence our behaviour. For example, people with nervous disorders or with hyperactive children can play soft music to calm them and to reduce anxiety. Frequently we move our feet, fingers, or head to the rhythms that we listen to, and we unconsciously sing songs that we may not even like! We do it because that song sticks in our minds.


THE ENEMY’S PLAN THROUGH MUSIC

Satan made a plan to get inside our minds and hearts through music, so that he can control our behaviours, and rule our lives. Then he is able to lead us to his original purpose of destruction and death, both physically and spiritually. Satan wants to steal everything that we love…our families, feelings, friends, and finally ourselves as people.


John 10:10…

The thief comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.


SATAN’S PURPOSES FOR MUSIC

TO STEAL GOD’S PRAISE AND THE ABUNDANT LIFE OF THE NEW BELIEVER

Satan will steal the honour and worship that belongs only to God, by getting us to sing and dance to melodies that glorify the enemy. These songs have direct messages that proclaim sins that God hates, such as fornication, adultery, sexual sins, unforgiveness, and revenge. This is how he steals the souls of God’s followers, and takes away the abundant life that Jesus made possible on the cross.


When we sing songs with messages such as, “feel me, please me”, we put words and pictures in our minds that will awaken our flesh, our passions, and sexual sins, with the goal of making us slaves to sin again. In my experience, I have seen that the person that can’t renounce secular music still has the world in his heart, and that person’s Lord is not God, but music. It is our responsibility to watch ourselves…to evaluate if what we sing or what we are filling our minds with would be the same thing that Jesus would fill His life with if He were in our place.


Luke 11:23

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. (Scatters away from the Truth and also leads others away from Truth)


Once a young girl began to walk with God. She went to an encounter weekend and saw God’s power in her life which helped her quit everything that was not beneficial to her life, such as secular music and a boyfriend who would constantly call her when he was drunk. In spite of this, she allowed certain kinds of freedoms for herself with secular music, especially the dance kind. This caused hr to re-enter her old lifestyle, once again awakening in her the desire for parties with her old friends, her old boyfriend and other things that didn’t please God. Her end was very sad. She ended up without God, without a boyfriend, and with a son who had no father. This young lady wasted her life and destroyed God’s plan for her life. She made music and her boyfriend her god.


IT WILL DESTROY THE LIVES OF ITS FOLLOWERS

Music has the power to destroy its listeners. Mick Jagger, the “Lucifer of Rock”, said, “We always work to lead peoples’ minds and wills. The majority of other groups do the same.” In concerts, people are led through music to do things that they wouldn’t normally do. Young people, for example, will strip themselves naked, or will have sex, or do drugs, or engage in violent acts. Not only does it affect their actions, but also it makes them feel depressed, like failures, and lonely, discontent and suicidal.


IT SPRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY KILLS ITS FOLLOWERS

The person who spends the entire day listening to secular music feels the desire to do what he listens to. If he listens to music that speaks about things that can’t be, sadness, frustration, and the pain that life has given him, he will end up depressed, bitter, drinking, or committing suicide.


I know a case of a young high school student who lived with his brothers. He had very bad friends. One day he began to feel a deep loneliness. He began to attend rock concerts where young people fought and did drugs. After a period of time, this young boy said to his family that he had made a serious commitment, and without any explanation, he shot himself the next day. The enemy accomplishes his plan of killing those who fall into his trap by convincing them to end their lives and by killing the hope in them of ever finding a better life. He takes us to a place of torment where we can never leave!


Many believers fall into Satan’s trap. They think that they are strong enough to resist temptation. They think that they can rule their lives, but they end up slaves of their pasts (alcohol, illicit sex, violence, and evil) just like all the rest. They become sons of the devil, and they lose the life that Jesus gave them on the cross. God wants to give us abundant life. You can experience it when you fill your mind with things that edify and build you up. Music should bring you comfort, peace, bring you closer to God, and make you a better person.


CHRISTIAN MUSIC IS A TRANSMITTER OF LIFE

TRANSMITS PEACE AND CALMS YOUR SPIRIT

Music influences our emotions and our mood…what we listen to will determine our thoughts, actions and attitudes. King Saul, for example, when he stopped walking with God, lost his protection and an evil spirit came over him to torment him. Only when David played music for him did he feel any relief, as the evil spirit would leave him. (1Samuel 16:23) When we play Christian music, we release the presence of God over our lives and our home. We cast out every spirit so that we can feel the peace of the presence of God.

Just like Saul, music can have a good influence, and we will feel better.



IT’S A USEFUL TOOL TO WIN SOULS

There is some excellent Christian music out there… music that is pleasant to the ear, and is also a positive influence. We can share this music with non-believers, because its quality is as good if not better than that of secular music. It is an eye-opener to those who believe that Christian music is boring or mediocre. God is the God of excellence!


In 1996, the sports arena in Bogota, Colombia hosted a Christian group called Petra. As they did a presentation with the objective of evangelizing and showing the world a different musical alternative, the impact in those who attended, including the media, was strong! There were positive comments made about the quality of Petra’s music, and the spirit moved in the concert and there was a distinctly felt peace. After the concert, more than 800 people accepted Christ.


IT TRANSMITS MESSAGES THAT EDIFY

1Corinthians 6:12…

Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.


When we choose our music, we must choose those messages that make you feel better as a person, bringing you confidence, giving you strength, and drawing you close to God with its music and lyrics.



HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH MUSIC NOW THAT YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN?

1. Don’t allow small compromises with secular music. You will be easily trapped by it.

2. Determine to think on other things when you have to listen to secular music.

3. Don’t listen to music that will bring memories of the past that can take you back to your old practices. It brings a grieving or an unhealthy nostalgia where you could easily glory in past sin.

4. Do things before God, keeping transparency in every area. Be conscious that the Holy Spirit sees all things, and He is there to help you be faithful.

5. When you don’t want to contaminate your heart, speak in other tongues in your mind, memorize Bible verses, and think on the good thing that god has given you or others. These things will edify you.

6. Destroy the music that made you a slave to sin in the past. Believe that God is powerful, and that He can give you much more than all we can ask or understand!

7. Buy good Christian music, according to your taste, and listen to Christian radio stations.


Acts 19:19…

A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.



MY NOTES:
Recommended book to read: “ The Rebirth of Music”, by Lamar Boschman ISBN 0914903802


1. The first musician: Lucifer

Ezekiel 28:12b-18, Isaiah 14:11-14
- He was extremely beautiful

- He was an angel of music…tambourines, pipes and 6-stringed harps were built into his body.

- He was the worship leader (the cherub that covers)

- Responsible that there was a continual worship and praise before the Throne.

- Led angels in constant praise and worship

- Any other reason for music was an abomination…a violation. Music was only to glorify God.

2. The fall of Lucifer

- His pride: Isaiah 14:12-14 (“ I will…”)

- Cast out of heaven: Isaiah 14:15

- Ezekiel 28:14-19

- Music fell as well, and became secular at hat time. He began to create music for himself, and for his own glory. Revelation 12:7-9

3. The spirit of Pride

- Proverbs 8:13; 11:2; 16:18; 29:23; Isaiah 2:17

4. Music and the spiritual realm: Affects our spirit

  1. Satanic Influence: John 4:24; John 8:44
- Just as the Holy Spirit falls upon us in worship, so the devil can cause an evil unction to fall on us in secular music. It is not a counterfeit, but real and powerful.

- John 10:10: He comes to steal, kill and destroy (all with lies)...that is his manifesto


  1. Music and God’s Presence:
- Psalms 100:2; 95: 2; 100:4; 22:3

- We are to approach God with worship, adoration and praise.

5. What kind of music should a Christian listen to?

- Listen to music that has a different spirit and a different purpose! Music that leads to and celebrates life and hope!

- 3 types of songs: 1. Songs of the World: Pretty love songs, Nothing wrong with them—expressing love and admiration for a person or objects on a natural level.

2. Songs of the Flesh: Lust or dirty

3. Songs of the Devil: Dark, evil, blasphemic, exalting Lucifer, death, suicide and murder…1 John 2:16-17; Proverbs 23:7


6. Questions to consider when choosing music to listen to:

  1. What is the spirit behind the song?
  2. Who or what does it exalt? The world? The flesh? The devil? Jesus?
  3. Does it edify the believer? Philippians 4:8
Make a choice to have a positive answer to all questions!


Acts 19:19

Deuteronomy 7:26
I broadly agree with that, and it's certainly sound advice to steer clear of secular music and listen to music with positive Christian themes instead. Listening to Christian music with suitable lyrics which are grounded in scripture can be edifying. That said, ideas like this are somewhat troubling:
"When we play Christian music, we release the presence of God over our lives and our home. We cast out every spirit so that we can feel the peace of the presence of God."
That's a nice idea, and it sounds very convincing, but it simply isn't based on scripture. There's also a reference to mood and emotions. What affects our mood and emotions is what appeals to nature, not to the work of God in us. It's fine to enjoy things that please us naturally, and to suggest otherwise would be advocating asceticism. But the danger lies in confusing an emotional response with the activity of the Holy Spirit - the danger being that we can unknowingly be drawn into only experiencing the former and not the latter, and mistaking the former for the latter. What is natural is right and proper, but we have to be exercised to distinguish between that and what is spiritual. My natural preferences and instincts might lead me astray; they might cause division amongst by brethren if I let them come into the gathering: the Spirit never will. Tending to our mood and emotions won't keep us in spiritual good health or near to the Lord, it'll just make us self-centered, over-occupied with our needs and wants and not the Lord's interests. Making way for the Spirit to operate in us and depending on Him will keep us healthy, and achieve a better result than if we just feed nature.
 
I broadly agree with that, and it's certainly sound advice to steer clear of secular music and listen to music with positive Christian themes instead. Listening to Christian music with suitable lyrics which are grounded in scripture can be edifying. That said, ideas like this are somewhat troubling:
"When we play Christian music, we release the presence of God over our lives and our home. We cast out every spirit so that we can feel the peace of the presence of God."
That's a nice idea, and it sounds very convincing, but it simply isn't based on scripture. There's also a reference to mood and emotions. What affects our mood and emotions is what appeals to nature, not to the work of God in us. It's fine to enjoy things that please us naturally, and to suggest otherwise would be advocating asceticism. But the danger lies in confusing an emotional response with the activity of the Holy Spirit - the danger being that we can unknowingly be drawn into only experiencing the former and not the latter, and mistaking the former for the latter. What is natural is right and proper, but we have to be exercised to distinguish between that and what is spiritual. My natural preferences and instincts might lead me astray; they might cause division amongst by brethren if I let them come into the gathering: the Spirit never will. Tending to our mood and emotions won't keep us in spiritual good health or near to the Lord, it'll just make us self-centered, over-occupied with our needs and wants and not the Lord's interests. Making way for the Spirit to operate in us and depending on Him will keep us healthy, and achieve a better result than if we just feed nature.

Yes, it is based on scripture. God inhabits our praise. His presence appears and is experienced by His people. Any spiritual entity which tries to hinder us is thwarted! Scripture affirms it in the story of Saul and David. Perhaps you'd best look it up and revisit it.

Mood and emotions are all a part of us just as the rest of us---all our body parts and the abstract parts of our makeup---and Holy Spirit, our indweller, has access to and affects it ALL. It appears to me you have been taught to regard the normal functioning of emotions and mood as carnal, and separate from the working of Holy Spirit in them, and therefore something to eschew and even fear. That couldn't be further from the truth.

The Spirit-filled and Spirit-led Christian doesn't have to fear the emotional or mental parts of ourselves! We can embrace them, knowing the the Lord Jesus Christ permeates our whole being, and we as new creatures (with a new natural!) in Christ need not fear the proper functioning of our emotions in worship!
 
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