Bach said that "The aim and final reason
of all music should be nothing else but the glory of God, and the refreshment
of the spirit." It was the public singing of Luther's hymns that caused
people to come to hear his preaching, which shook the world into the
Reformation. It was singing that made the great Welch revival spread
throughout the land. One person wrote, "The best way now to rejuvenate
dead churches is to sing them into life." While singing is not the only
aspect of worship, when most people today talk about worship, they are
talking about singing. When people call to inquire about our church,
one question I'm always asked is: What style of worship do you use?
I know what they mean. They want me to add a man-made adjective in front
of the word worship. They want to know if we use contemporary worship;
or blended worship; or traditional worship; or liturgical worship. There
is only one adjective that ought to be used to describe a church's worship:
Biblical. We are striving for biblical worship. If you aren't sure what
biblical worship is, let me give you 4 characteristics of biblical worship
we find in Ezra 3.
1st, biblical worship is worship that follows the directions of the
Bible-v. 10. Why did they use trumpets and cymbals? Because God's Word
directs us in Psalm 150 to praise God using various instruments, such
as trumpets and cymbals. Their worship guide is the same worship guide
we have: the Bible.
It would be great if each of us could just toss out everything we've
ever heard, done or thought about worship, and just commit ourselves
to worship the way the Bible tells us to worship. I've had people actually
say to me we shouldn't worship the way we do because it is based upon
what the Old Testament teaches us about worship. For instance, they say that since
those passages about dancing unto the Lord are only found in the Old Testament,
then dancing is not for New Testament churches. Therefore, dancing is not a valid
worship expression. They say the same thing about lifting your hands
to the Lord. They say that New Testament only tells us to lift our hands in prayer,
not in praise.
Therefore we are in error for lifting holy hands unto the Lord during
worship, because that is only for the Jews. While they say that it is
okay to sit or stand during worship, which the New Testament never tells us to
do, they will tell you that it is not okay to lay on your face before
the Lord. What I find interesting is that the same people will say during
an altar call that the people are to bow their heads & close their eyes.
They treat it as if it's a sacred act, when the Bible never speaks of
closing your eyes or bowing your head. I agree that we don't have to
obey the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. But the Old Testament isn't just
about the law, it also contains some of the richest passages on the
subject of worship.
Look next at v. 11. Notice that the people were singing songs that declared
a truth about God. From this we see that the 2nd characteristic of biblical
worship is that it praises God for either who He is or what He has done.
God has done many wonderful & mighty acts. We see that all through the
Bible. But his greatest display of power was seen over 2,000 yrs. ago,
on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem. It was there that we see God's
only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, being made sin for
us. It was on that old rugged cross that we see the Lamb of God being
crucified so he could take away our sins, by paying the penalty of our
sins with his own blood. It was a great work when God created the universe.
It was a great work when God parted the Red Sea so the children of Israel
could go through it on dry ground. But my brothers & sisters, God's
greatest work of all was the finished work of Calvary. For it was there
that Jesus made it possible for you & me to be saved. And because of
that we have every reason to fall on our faces in worship to God.
Not only is biblical worship centered on what God has done, it also
centers on who God is. Yes we are to praise him for his works, but we
are also to praise him for himself. I hope we all come to the point
we can praise him for just being our father. Where we can praise Jesus
for just being our Lord. I hope we can all come to the point where we
will move from just asking God for things in prayer, to praising him
for just for who he is: God! The song the people sang comes from Psalm
136 which repeats the phrase, "His mercy endures forever" 26 times.
Most of us would go crazy if Brent repeated a chorus of a song 26 times.
Now the repeating of a phrase isn't a style that is used that often,
but it does show us that God has ordained that there is to be a variety
of styles when it comes to singing songs of praise to him.
I like most kinds of worship music. But I must confess that the 2 styles
I like the best are the hymns and our modern day praise music. I have
a heart for the hymns because they are so rich in theology. I like to
sing them because they are songs that were composed out of people's
experiences with God. And I also have a passion for the new praise music
that is being written. I like to sing them because they are songs that
are directed to God, expressing the composers love for God. And since
I grew up listening to rock & roll, I love the newer music because it
uses powerful guitar licks, and pounding drum beats to enhance the message
of the songs. But that is also what is causing so much opposition to
the newer music in today's church.
I came across an interesting article written by a prominent American
pastor. He gave several reasons for opposing the newer trends in Christian
music.
Here are some of them:
(1) It's often worldly, even blasphemous.
(2) It's not as pleasant to the ears as the more established style.
(3) There are so many new songs, you can't learn them all.
(4) It places too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than on
godly lyrics.
(5) This new music creates disturbances, making people act indecently
and disorderly.
(6) The preceding generation got along without it.
(7) It's merely a money making scheme.
You may want to know it was written in 1723 as a statement against the
use of the hymns of Isaac Watts. Watts wrote such blasphemous songs
as "Joy to the World," "When I survey the Wondrous Cross," "Alas and
did my Savior Bleed," "At the Cross," "Our God in help in ages past,"
just to name a few. Look, every generation thinks there music is the
best. What we have to guard ourselves against is judging the value of
the songs based upon how they make us feel, rather than on whether or
not they direct our praise to God.
Always remember that the goal of worship is to honor God, not to please
the worshiper. In the New Testament, we learn that we are not to be: "Drunk with
wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking
to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Singing and
making music in your heart to the Lord." Also we are told to "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 thanksgiving in your hearts to God."
From these commands, we see that kind of music that will honor God is
music that is controlled by the Holy Spirit, and by the Word of God.
If the songs we are singing are theologically incorrect, then no matter
how good the beat of the songs are, the songs are not honoring God.
If the songs are meant merely to move you emotionally, then the songs
are not of the Spirit, thus they will not honor God.
In both of these passages, we see that there are 3 distinctly different
types of music mentioned. The first is songs that fall into the category
of a psalm. A psalm is a song that takes part of the Bible and puts
it to music. Our modern day worship music began as psalms. I can remember
when we used to sing so many Scripture songs, that it was hard to read
the Bible without starting to sing the songs when you came to that passage
of Scripture. I loved it when people would say to me, "Did you know
that one of the songs we sing is found in the Bible?"
The second category is hymns. Hymns are songs of celebration to God.
Not all the songs that are found in the hymnals are true hymns. For
a hymn is a celebrative song of praise that is directed only towards
God.
The third category is spiritual songs. These are songs that are about
what God has done in one's life through his Spirit. They are songs that
someone wrote as a spontaneous praise to God for something he did for
them. In reality, most of what we call hymns really should be called
spiritual songs. For instance, the song, "It is well with my soul,"
was written by Horatio Spafford. He was going to London to do some evangelistic
work, so he sent his family on ahead. The ship they were on sank, and
he lost several daughters. On his way to London to be with the members
of his family who had survived, his ship crossed over the exact spot
where the previous ship had sank. After he crossed that spot, he went
to his room and wrote these words as a spiritual song to God-read 1st
vs. From these 3 different types of songs, we see that the church is
to use a wide variety of styles in worship. And that one type is not
better than the rest.
The 3rd truth about biblical worship we see in this passage is that
worship is usually loud-v. 13. Private worship may be quiet and meditative,
but corporate worship can get pretty loud sometimes! King David tells
us to "Shout loudly to God, everybody! Let loose and sing! Strike up
the band! Round up an orchestra to play for God, add on a hundred-voice
choir. Feature trumpets and big trombones; fill the air with praises
to King God!"
I don't understand why some people insist that worship must be quiet
to be reverent. The kind of music that honors God should be characterized
by joy & celebration. But way too much of the music of the church is
just the opposite. Instead of causing us to break into joy, in leads
us into somberness. Instead creating an atmosphere of celebration, it
creates more of an atmosphere of a funeral. I remember going into one
church that had this Scripture verse written near every entrance, "The
Lord is in His Holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him."
I watched as the people would come in and quietly sit down in the pews
waiting for the worship service to begin. Even though they only sang
a total of about 3 songs, it felt like I sang for an eternity. That
was because the music was very religious sounding. In other words, it
was dead. From what the Bible teaches us, our worship services shouldn't
be marked by dead silence! The music shouldn't bring down our spirit!
The music shouldn't appeal to the emotions of defeat, depression, and
discouragement! Even though much of the church's worship music does
just that, I don't think that is what God wants in his church.
The Bible does tell us that there is a time to be still before God.
But I believe that is for our time or prayer, not our time of praise.
Worship should be reverent, but reverent doesn't mean quiet. In the
Old Testament, the word "reverent" means to "bow down in honor." In
the New Testament the word means to "show respect." It's a shame that many of today's
churches have equated reverence with quietness. You don't have to be
quiet to show respect.
If President Bush, visited our church I imagine that everyone would
give him a five-minute standing ovation as a way of showing that we
respect him. What kind of ovation do you believe King Jesus deserves?
People out to be able to hear us singing to King Jesus as they drive
by. They ought to hear so much noise that they are afraid that the roof
will collapse in on us. We ought to be singing not only from the heart,
but also heartily. By the level of our worship, people ought to know
that we believe that our God is an awesome God who reigns from heaven
above.
Besides, God wants us to learn to worship loudly as a rehearsal for
the worship that we will be part of in heaven! Trust me, the worship
services in heaven are going to be loud!
When John was taken to heaven, he tells us that he "Heard what sounded
like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud
peals of thunder, shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God almighty reigns!'"
This summer I hope to go see Niagara Falls. I am told that you can hear
the sound of the water long before you see the falls. One commentator
said that if you multiply that noise by about a million times, you will
begin to approach the volume of the praise that will be directed toward
Jesus in heaven!
The 4th point about biblical worship is that there is a variety of ways
to express your worship to God. Notice in v. 13 that some of the people
were shouting shouts of joy, while others were weeping. What we don't
see is the weepers saying to the shouters, "Hey, stop shouting, and
start weeping!" Neither did the shouters say to the weepers, "Hey, stop
your crying, you ought to be shouting shouts of joy!" Instead, as these
people were expressing their worship in two totally different ways,
it all blended together into a beautiful symphony of worship. Paul tells
us that "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty!" When a church
enters into true biblical worship, you'll have the freedom and liberty
to express your worship as you are led by the Spirit. When the Spirit
of the Lord directs the worship service, the people who want to clap
along with a song will feel the freedom to do so even if no one else
is clapping. And if everyone else is clapping, but you don't feel led
by the Spirit to clap, no one else will judge you as not being spiritual
for not doing so.
The same is true when it comes to lifting our hands to God in worship.
Don't do it because your afraid of what people might think about you
if you don't. Also, don't do it just because you want to draw attention
to yourself so that people will think you are spiritual. Do it as you
look into the face of God, and you lift your hands up like a child reaching
out for his daddy.
Let me finish by stating that I want us to be able to enjoy worship
that is in spirit and truth. It seems that most churches major on one
or the other. But rarely are they balanced with both aspects of worship.
On one hand, you have those who overemphasize the spirit, to the point
they believe that you can do whatever you want in your worship to God.
But on the other hand, there are those who take such a high view of
truth in worship, that they completely miss out on the spiritual side
of worship.
The evangelical church is in danger of missing out on some of the spiritual
aspects of emotional worship. At one of the Calvary Chapel's leadership
conferences I went to, a man who was part of the beginning days of what
has become today's praise & worship, reminded us that Calvary Chapel's
have always been known for their cutting edge worship. But he is afraid
that we have tried to be so right in everything we do, that we might
become dead right. He encouraged us to allow the Spirit to move through
our worship services. And if anyone does anything that is not biblical,
use it as a teaching opportunity.
My vision for this church is to have worship that is both in spirit
and in truth. I want us to be able to study the Bible in all of its
fullness, so that we can have worship that touches the heart. I believe
that as we faithfully study the Bible, we will discover that God's Spirit
will never cause us to do anything that takes away from the glory of
God, or that would distract others from worshiping God.
This means that we aren't going to take the attitude of "anything goes"
during our worship services. For the only expressions of worship that
will be allowed in this church, are those expressions of worship that
are found within the context of biblical teaching on worship. For I
only want the kind of worship that honors and blesses God.
Let's pray!!
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