How are we able to sing?
Singing is pretty amazing when you think about it.
Somehow, we humans are able to push air up our throats over some sort of flexible fleshy membranes that vibrate at different speeds, changing the pitch of the sound we’re producing, which we intuitively know how to do, all the while reshaping our tongues and lips and mouths to form words while making this happen.
22 times the Bible tells us to “Sing to the Lord.”
Illus: A famous preacher named Spurgeon once said:
• “Do we sing as much as the birds do? Yet what have birds to sing about compared with us?
• Do we sing as much as the angels do? Yet the angels were never redeemed by the blood of Christ.
• Birds of the air, shall you excel me?
• Angels, shall you exceed me?
• You have done so - but I intend to emulate you, and day by day, and night by night pour forth my soul in sacred song.”
Spurgeon had no intention of letting birds or angels sing more praises to God than he did. He intended to sing because he had a reason to sing.
Illus: Ken Idleman (the preacher at the SE Christian Church in Louisville, KY) told of being out in the park on a hot, miserable day. He was sweating profusely and was not in a good mood.
But out of the corner of his eye he saw a man in work clothes carrying a hose over his shoulder, and the man was whistling... on this hot, miserable day.
As he watched, the workman arrived at his destination - a port-a-pot. The man had come to clean it out... and he was whistling... on a hot and miserable day.
And what was he whistling?
Idleman marveled at this - here was a man cleaning out a port-a-pot on a hot and miserable day whistling "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!" Without even realizing he was doing it, this workman was praising God and declaring God's glory for the strength God had given him on a hot sweaty day to clean out a port-a-pot.
Let me ask you a question.
Here is the question: “Have you ever thought why church services like ours, after opening in prayer start their services off by singing?”
There is a reason for that.
Because…
(1) Singing is a way giving the congregation an opportunity to preach Christ from the pews.
Preacher….what do you mean that SINGING IS A WAY PREACHING from the pews?
Every week as a minister I preach from the pulpit but when the congregation sings each week they are preaching from the pews.
For example, on Easter…
Illus: And I heard this congregation PREACHING FROM THE PEWS singing… “I serve a risen Savior, He is in my heart today…He lives!”
You may not be in the pulpit preaching but from the pews of this church you preached HE LIVES loudly and clearly.
Singing is a way for the congregation to PREACH CHRIST FROM THE PEWS.
(2) Singing is a way of Confession
As we sing hymns, we are confessing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• When we sing, “He is Lord,” we are preaching from the pews that Jesus is LORD!
• When we sing, “How Great Thou Art,” we are preaching from the pews the greatness of the God we serve.
(3) Singing Demonstrates the Unity of the Church
We read in Romans 15:6 “You may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Also, in I Cor. 1:10 we read, as a body of believers we are to be united. “I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment”.
As we lift our voices in harmony, we have the opportunity to show that unity. We are preaching unity from the pew's harmony.
(4) Singing Expresses Deep Religious Emotion
James 5:13, we read, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms”.
While emotion must never be the focal point of our religion or our worship, there are often deep emotions embedded in our worship of the Lord Jesus. Singing allows us to express that emotion.
There is something special about walking into a church and:
• Not half the congregation,
• Not one third of the congregation
• Not one fourth of the congregation
The entire congregation is singing with emotion.
Illus: I like that kind of singing in a church service because even if you do not have a singing voice, you can cut lose and sing and nobody, but God is going to hear you.
There is nothing worse than to walk into a church service and they are singing so low if you sing you sound like you are singing a SOLO!!!
(5) Singing is obedience to the scriptures
Look at:
Psalm 96:1 David wrote: “Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.”
Psalm 98:1 declared “Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!”
Illus: A preacher said to an old member of his congregation, “You gave the Lord two hundred dollars this morning.”
• “What do you mean?” asked the aged Christian.
• “I heard you singing,” replied the preacher. “I counted five hymns of praise to the Lord.
The psalmist said it is true that the Old Testament refers to singing as being more valuable than the sacrifice of cattle.
Look at Ps 69:30-31, we read “I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull, which has horns and hooves”.
The preacher was right, that a song of praise would please the Lord more than an ox. A cow would be worth at least forty dollars. So, you have given the Lord two hundred dollars.”
Illus: You might not have a good voice to sing with, but God love for us to sing unto Him regardless of what kind of voice we have.
Illus: I have seen people come into a worship service weary from the load they have been carrying all week. But once the song service starts and they start to sing they forget about their troubles and worship the Lord.
• Part of the power of music power comes from its ability to relieve anxiety.
• Singing takes a person’s mind off their suffering and soothes tension.
(6) Singing is preaching Evangelism
When we sing “Bring them in” We are preaching from the pew's evangelism.
We are preaching from the pews that we need to reach the lost for Christ.
(7) Singing is healthy
According to Vitality Digest June 1995 “Singing helps reduce stress because it forces us to breathe deeply and use our lungs to full capacity. It relaxes the body and helps lower your blood pressure. (Roger Thies, Associate Professor of physiology University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City)
Illus: Another article noted that burn victims who were encouraged to sing while having their dressing changed experienced less pain.
Part of the power of music power comes from its ability to relieve anxiety.
God created us to sing!!!
Illus: A young man was with his dad when they passed a cemetery.
• He said my dad goes in a low, dark, creepy voice, "I know something about this cemetery that you don’t.”
• And I asked what is it?
• He continued, "The people living in this town can’t be buried here.”
• I was really confused so I asked why?
• He rasped, "Cuz they’re still alive!"
Listen, if you are alive not in a cemetery when you come into the House of God…SING?
In our text today, David tells us “(God) put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:3)
Illus: Several years back, a group of missionaries spent 25 years translating the New Testament into the language of the Chol Indians. Today the Chol Church is thriving - more than 12,000 believers.
What’s interesting is that when the missionaries first came, the Chol Indians didn’t know how to sing. But with the coming of the gospel, they became known as “the singers”.
“They love to sing now, because they have something to sing about.” (George Sweeting “Psalms of the Heart)
Illus: Someone once noted: Singing is not JUST for singers; singing is for believers. (Leadership, Vol. 3 no. 1)
Illus: Donald Hustead said, “If you have a song in your heart, then you’ll sing. If you don’t… you won’t. So, the question is not, ‘Do you have a voice?’ The question is ‘Do you have a song?”
A favorite song of mine and many more is the song, “No, not one”.
I think I know the reason that so many Christians like that song is because of some questions that are asked,
Such as:
• There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, NO, NOT ONE!
• There’s not an hour that He is not near us, NO, NOT ONE!
• No night so dark but His love can cheer us, NO, NOT ONE!
• No sinner can fined that He would not take him? NO, NOT ONE!
What makes this song such a great song is the message that it conveys to us about the GREATNESS OF THE LORD JESUS!
The song, “No, not one” has a real Bible message that tells us about the wonderful Savior who loves us and died for our sins.
But if you really want to know about the greatness of the Lord Jesus, you have to turn to the Word of God.
Most people know enough about the Word of God to know that God is Omniscient - HE KNOWS ALL!
But there are some things that God does NOT KNOW-
I. GOD DOES NOT KNOW ANY PERSON WHO HAS NOT SINNED
• Look at Rom. 3:10, we read, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
• Look at Rom. 3:23, we read, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
God’s Word states that we are all sinners. This is something He knows.
How much clearer can He state it? “There is none righteous, no, NOT ONE."
Many folks get angry with Bible preachers when they preach that we are all sinners. But this is true, whether we want to hear it or not. All of us are in this state of affairs together.
Illus: The only difference between those of us who are saved and those who are not saved is that we have come to the Savior and asked Him to forgive us of our sins.
God’s Word says clearly and emphatically, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Illus: Most of us, at one time or another has played with darts. We would place a dartboard across the room, and we would take turns throwing darts at the dart board. You throw your dart and you might miss the bulls-eye by only an inch. I throw my dart and I might miss it by a foot.
But the fact is, we both missed the bulls-eye, and God says when it comes to the things of God, we have ALL HAVE MISSED THE BULLS- EYE.
We live in an age where people do not want to be told the truth about their spiritual condition. If a Bible-preacher starts to preach the truth of God’s Word and tell them they are hell-bound sinners, they find another church where the preacher will tell them, “I’m alright and you’re alright!”
But I am not ALRIGHT, and YOU are not ALRIGHT!!!
That is why the Lord Jesus had to come and die for our sins, because if He had not, we all would perish.
Whether they like to hear it or not, it is the TRUTH according to God’s Word, WE ALL ARE SINNERS!
Illus: People like this make you think of a person who has a serious physical condition, and they go to the doctor and tell him, “Doc, I help pay your salary, and I want you to tell me I AM IN GOOD CONDITION, even if I AM NOT!”
It would be ridiculous for someone to go to a doctor and make such a demand.
But yet there are some who make such demands when it comes to their spiritual condition. They want to be told they are in excellent condition spiritually, but the fact is they are in terrible condition spiritually.
WHY DO MANY THINK THEY ARE IN GOOD SHAPE SPIRITUALLY?
For several reasons:
(1) SOME BECAUSE OF COMPARISON
That is, they will find someone in worse shape than they are in and say, “I am in excellent shape compared to them.”
Illus: These people make us think of two fellows who go to the doctor and both have been diagnosed as having cancer.
• One has just been diagnosed, and the other one’s condition is much more advanced.
• But suppose the one who has just been diagnosed says, “I do not have a thing to worry about, I am in great shape compared to him!”
This is true to some degree; one has a lot more cancer cells than the other, but THEY BOTH HAVE CANCER.
Unless the cancer is treated and cured, it will kill both of them eventually.
One might be put in the grave before the other one, but the cancer is eventually going to put both of them in the grave.
The same thing is true with many spiritually. God’s Word says ALL HAVE SINNED. This sin will destroy all of us unless we come to Christ and let him cure us.
Some may die and go to Hell before others, but eventually all who die in their sins will go there.
People feel they are alright. SOME BECAUSE OF COMPARISON and …
(2) SOME BECAUSE OF RICHES
Some feel because God has blessed them with the riches of this world, that God must be pleased with them.
But what they fail to realize, is this: the Bible teaches the GOODNESS OF GOD IS TO LEAD US TO REPENTANCE.
Look at Rom. 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
God pours out his blessings on the lost that they might be appreciative and come to Him for forgiveness.
But many worship the BLESSINGS He has blessed them with, but not the “BLESSER” Who has blessed them!
The riches of the world have become their spiritual monitoring devices. That is, they are saying to themselves, “I MUST BE ALRIGHT, GOD MUST BE PLEASED WITH ME, and LOOK AT ALL THE MATERIAL THINGS I POSSESS.”
Listen, if that was true everybody in Hollywood God would please with and I can assure you with all their material goods God is not pleased with that crowd.
The riches of the world are not SPIRITUAL INDICATORS that reveal our spiritual condition.
Illus: Some of the most ungodly people in the world are loaded when it comes to material things, but they are bankrupt when it comes to spiritual things.
The same thing can apply to churches. They have wonderful facilities but God may not even be there.
God told the church in Laodicea, in Rev. 3:17, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
MATERIAL RICHES OF THE WORLD are not a SPIRITUAL INDICATOR that reveals our spiritual condition.
God knows every one of us are sinners in need of forgiveness, and God is willing to forgive and save all that come to Him.
John 6:37, “…Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”
GOD DOES NOT KNOW ANY PERSON WHO HAS NOT SINNED, and….
II. GOD DOES NOT KNOW ANY PERSON HE DOES NOT LOVE
Look at 1 John 4:9-10, we read, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, BUT THAT HE LOVED US, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
We sometimes meet folks who actually believe that no one on this earth loves them.
Illus: Have you ever seen an old mangy hound dog walking down the road looking for food?
Probably at one time that dog belonged to someone, but for some reason they put him in the car one day and drove off to some deserted spot on the highway, opened the door and put that dog out.
It makes you wonder how a person could do such a cruel thing and be able to sleep at night.
Then a week later we see that same dog on the side of the road, and he is now so skinny that his rib cage is showing.
He goes to people’s houses trying to find food in their garbage cans, and people would throw rocks at him and run him away.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT SAD ABOUT THAT DOG IS?
That dog does not have a friend in this world…NOT ONE!
Many people feel that way. They have been:
• Rejected by their family
• Shunned by their neighbors
• Abused by others
They are convinced that NO ONE cares for them.
But I am here to tell you that based on the Word of God; there is NOT A SINNER THAT GOD DOES NOT LOVE! NOT ONE!
Every human on the face of the earth may turn against a person, but the Lord still loves them, and wants to save them and give them an eternal home with Him in heaven.
Illus: As bad as Asama Ben Laden was hated by the majority in the world today as a terrorist, God loved him!
God does not love their ways, but God loves them.
There is not a sinner that the Lord Jesus did not die for. But there are folks who believe that no one loves them, not even God.
Those who think this do not know the God of the Bible.
Look at 2 Peter 3:9b, "The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
He does not love their sins, but He does love the sinner.
Those who think God does not love them don’t understand some things about God They do not know that …
(1) WE DO NOT EARN THE LOVE OF GOD
There is not one thing you and I can do to earn the love of God, NOT ONE THING!
Some feel because they have:
• Done too many terrible things
• Failed Him too many times
God does not love them.
The Bible is filled with people who failed God many times, but God’s love for them is not based on them EARNING HIS LOVE.
Now that is certainly the way we humans work. Our love is based on:
• Treat me right, I will treat you right
• You scratch my back, and I will scratch yours
• You love me, and I will love you
We mortals work on this TRADE RELATIONSHIP!
But there is not one thing you and I can do to earn the love of God. GOD DOES NOT KNOW ONE SINNER THAT HE DOES NOT LOVE. God loves us even when we are not LOVABLE!
The apostle Paul said he was the CHIEF OF SINNERS, but still God loved him.
Look at 1 Tim. 1:15, we read, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptations, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
We do not earn the Love of God and …
(2) WE DO NOT LOSE THE LOVE OF GOD
One of the painful experiences in life is to have someone that WE THOUGHT LOVED US, cut their love off LIKE WE CUT OFF A WATER SPIGOT!
• This happens in marriages
• This happens in neighborhoods
• This happens in our families
• This happens in our churches
This is devastating!
But here is the good news about God’s love:
• He loved me yesterday
• He loves me today
• He will love me tomorrow
Jer. 31:3, we read, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an EVERLASTING LOVE: therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
GOD DOES NOT KNOW ANY PERSON HE DOES NOT LOVE, and …
III. GOD DOES NOT KNOW OF A BETTER TIME TO BE SAVED THAN NOW
Look at Isa. 55:6, we read, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near."
Look at the word “near”. God’s Word says we are to call upon Him WHILE HE IS NEAR!
WHY DID THE LORD SAY THAT?
Because one day you will not be able to call upon God for salvation. The Lord is HERE today, and all you have to do is call upon Him and He will save you.
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The death spoken of here is SEPARATION.
Illus: One day there will be people in Hell crying for God to save them.
I believe the most pitiful cries from the human race will be
from the lips of mankind who will be in Hell.
But Hell is a place where people are separated from God FOREVER.
They may fall on their faces to the ground and cry at the top of their voices, but those cries will never be heard by God.
The Bible says, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Salvation is available right now for all who will come to Christ in faith.
GOD DOES NOT KNOW OF A BETTER DAY FOR YOU TO BE SAVED THAN TODAY.
If you miss this golden opportunity, it may be that you will spend eternity in a devil’s hell.
Conclusion:
I. GOD DOES NOT KNOW ANY PERSON WHO HAS NOT SINNED
II. GOD DOES NOT KNOW ANY PERSON HE DOES NOT LOVE
III.GOD DOES NOT KNOW OF A BETTER TIME TO BE SAVED THAN NOW
Listen lost person, if you did not accept the lord yesterday you are 24 hours closer to hell today than you were yesterday.
The clock is ticking, God’s Word says, TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!!!
