SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER IN SONG
(This sermon was adapted from a sermon by David Dykes)
Ephesians 5:18-21 (NKJV)
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
let’s talk about how the fullness of the Spirit leads to a heart and a mouth and a life full of praise.
according to verse 19 we are to
Speak to one another in SONG
Some people like to tell me – We just worship at home or in nature.. we don’t need church
This verse is a clear mandate for corporate worship
This command cannot be obeyed in solitude.
God calls us to speak in song to one another.
Sing with me…
“Yes Jesus loves me”
“O Come Let Us Adore Him”
“Standing on the Promises of God”
You know what these three songs have in common.
they are examples of speaking to one another.
None of these directly address God,
but we are offering truths about Him.
The Bible says we are to do that in three ways…
1. Songs – psalms or Old Testament songs
There are 150 psalms
They were meant to be sung
the word “psalms” means “ “songs sung with accompaniment,”
I love reading the Psalms, but they were never meant to be read—they were meant to be sung
I just don’t know the original melody…
It does not really matter what tune you use the words are the important part they are inspired…
Psalm 23:1-6 (NKJV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul; He guides paths in righteousness For His name's sake. 4 though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will nOT fear though art with me; THY rod and THY staff, they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cups overflowing . 6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
When we sing psalms we build each other up.
We build courage into one another
we energized by our agreement.
We are making confession of the greatness of God
and what we believe.
So singing becomes a mark of the true fellowship we have in the Spirit.
We need to follow the directions of the Psalms..
Psalm 150:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! 2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! 4 Praise Him with the timbrel and DANCE; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise Him with LOUD cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!
DANCE---Dancing in the spirit is nothing mystical
Is an expression of your joy in the Lord…
God must really love our church
Because God likes our worship LOUD
Psalm 33:3 (NKJV)
3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
Revelation 7:10-12 (NKJV)
“To him who sits on the throne and unto the lamb
Be blessing and glory and honor and power forever…”
A second way we are to speak to one another in music…
2. Hymns – “A composed Song”
A hymn is a song of praise someone deliberately and carefully composed.
By that definition the songs in this book and the other songs we sing are all HYMNS…
The only difference is the age from which they came
From about the year 300 until about the 16th century, there was very little music in the church…
Some of the earliest forms were chants..
Like this ONE.. Gregorian Chant…
Around the 1440 with the invention of the printing press
Christians began to write MUSIC
like, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” By Martin Luther
John Newton “Amazing Grace” 1770
John and Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 Christian songs
They took tunes from some of the popular songs of the day and put Christian lyrics to them
The song, “Blessed be the Name, Blessed be the Name”
Was from an old English drinking song. “Pass another ale”
The established church in England hated it…
But today we sing it with JOY
There are currently over 500,000 copyrighted Christian worship songs…
Many of them are wonderful
some of them have poor theology LIKE
Lift Jesus Higher, lift Jesus Higher, lift him up for the world to see, he said if I be lifted up from the eart I will draw all men unto me…
All of them are subject to Men’s Criticism
Some people don’t like the song White as snow, white as snow, though my sins were as scarlett, Lord I know, lord I know I am free and forgiven…by the power of your love through the power of your bloof, through faith in you I know that I can be white as snow..
The difference between hymns and psalms is psalms are inspired
WHILE Songs can be inspiring
I was thinking… about the inspiring music songs I have loved from And I made a video….
Finally we are to speak to one another in
3. Spiritual songs - “odes of the Spirit”
It is a song that comes from the core of our being
And rises to our lips
1 Corinthians 14:15 (NKJV)
15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
Singing in the Spirit
UNLIKE singing in the understanding
is singing in unknown tongues
In our church we are familiar with tongue speaking in several ways..
A. One of the experiences we have in our church is believers Speaking in tongues with interpretation
This experience is two of the 9 gifts 1 Cor. 12
When that happens it is a praise to God and for the common GOOD
We generally talk about these gifts and we examine them….
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (NKJV)
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
The Test
Is it in harmony with God’s word
What did you hear…
It gives us a chance to think about it…
B. Another manifestation we experience is people praying in their prayer language…in church
Many people feel comfortable speaking in tongues in church.
We all have a like minded faith
When we pray in the spirit in church in our prayer language
It is generally not interpreted…
That’s something we need to be careful about…
1 Corinthians 14:23 (NKJV)
23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
It’s not good for us to appear to be out of our minds.
Drunk and singing and falling down is ok, but appearing crazy is BAD
NO DOUBT - God wants us to pray in the SPIRIT
Jude 1:20 (NKJV)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost
But the right place and the right time is everything
When you are filled with the Holy Ghost
When you are praying to God at the ALTER
Even in church
The Bible Makes a prohibition against just willy nilly speaking in tongues..
Paul says, 1 Corinthians 14:18 -19(NKJV)
18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
So we need to mind the order for believers laid out in scripture…It is our guide…
C. A third experience in the church is SINGING in tongues as a GIFT of the Spirit
I Believe that just as a message in tongues should be interpreted that a solo song in the spirit should be interpreted.
And the interpretation should be a song also…
I had a message in tongues in song one time here at church and what happened is that when I started to sing….others joined in with me…I assume that’s because they were ignorant of Prophetic SINGING
It has not happened much here…
D. Finally there is singing in the spirit in church…
Much like speaking in tongues in church
it is a song sung to God
Throughout the Bible this kind of song is referred to as a new song..
Psalm 96:1 (NKJV)
1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
In my way thinking, a song done in concert does not need to be understood to be meaningful
Therefore the congregation needs to grow in this gift of speaking to one another in spiritual songs.
Further we need to be open to prophecy and interpretation in song as well…
When I sing in tongues my spirit is free to soar in realms of spiritual blessing unhindered by the constraints of my human ability.
It is spiritual…
CONCLUSION
Do you remember old Paul and Silas sitting in jail in Philipi
They had their hands bound in chains; their feet in stocks
They were waiting to be executed the next day
. So what did Paul and Silas do? The same guy who said, “Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” practiced what he preached
Acts 16:25 (NKJV)
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
The other prisoners were listening
“Man, there’s something different about those guys.”
The Bible says the earth is the footstool of the Lord so God just started patting his foot a little bit harder.
Acts 16:26 (NKJV)
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.
That’s the power of praise—it sets you free.
