PP0449 DATE
AN UNCERTAIN SOUND!
1 Corinthians 14:8
1Co 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? (KJV)
INTRODUCTION: In a military situation various kinds of musical sounds gave various instructions.
Reveille – Every morning the trumpet would blow reveille and every soldier knew it was time to rise and meet in formation in the company street.
Retreat – At 10:00 PM the trumpet would blow “TAPS” which meant “lights out”, and go to bed.
Charge - Attack – When in battle if the commander wanted the troops to charge the enemy he would have the bugler blow “the charge” and that meant to advance toward the enemy in battle.
There was other musical sounds that had various meanings, but suppose that the bugler would blow the retreat when he was supposed to blow the charge. The army would not know what to do.
An uncertain sound can bring about the wrong actions and results. If the soldiers do not recognize the sound then they will not know what to do.
That’s why there must never be an uncertain sound in the army of the Lord. That is also why so many churches are not progressing on into Spiritual battle with the enemy, they have been given an uncertain sound and they did not prepare themselves for battle. There is so much going on in the church realm today that gives out an uncertain sound.
There are uncertain sounds coming from every direction today. We certainly are getting them from Washington DC. Certainly from the news media. Nearly every Christian publication is sounding an uncertain sound. Even a lot of churches are sending out an uncertain sound. That’s why we Baptists must always sound forth a clear and certain sound.
I have chosen four areas of church work that we see this uncertain sound being sounded in this day. Listen as I give these four thoughts to you tonight.
I. UNCERTAIN SOUND IN OUR MUSIC
A. Worldly Music In Church Services.
1. Contemporary music. I have never seen a definition of the term “Contemporary Music”. However, I do know that it is not the kind of music that God wants to be sung in N.T. Churches today.
2. Gospel Rock - ???? I have never understood that term – “Gospel Rock”. Rock music cannot be gospel music.
a. Rock music defines a certain culture and not a type of music. Every culture has
its own music. The music always defines what the purpose and mission of that particular culture is.
b. Rock music lends itself to rebellion, drugs, open sex, and anti-God.
c. There is no gospel in rock music.
The music industry has tried to tell us that they can take music that is of the world and make it acceptable unto God by renaming it. That is demeaning to God. It would seem like the music industry was trying to trick God into something He would not know about. How absurd!
Music affects the emotional system. When you hear a sad song about a loved one being killed or a home going through divorce your emotional system will react to the message of that song. When you hear a happy and joyous song you will rejoice in that song. Society has learned to control the temperament of people with music. Shopping centers will play soft gentle music that causes the people to move and react slow. Thus they will spend more time in the shopping aisles, and buy more product. They even choose songs with certain words that will speak to the sub-conscience telling you that you must buy that product.
If it is a situation where they want the people to move on fast then music with a more upbeat sound will be played, and the people will exit the area much faster. An example of this is in the exercise places. The music that is played during exercise is fast and jumpy thus causing the people to exercise faster. If the music was slow and restful the people would go to sleep while exercising. Music will affect your emotional center either for the cause and purpose of God or against God and His cause.
Many years ago some of the Dairy companies experimented with music while milking the cows. They found that when soft, gentle, and slow music was played the cows would produce more milk than when fast, loud, jumpy music was played. Babies, when nursing while loud jumpy music is being played will have the stomach ache when more than soft gentle music was played.
B. Music In A Church Service Is To Prepare The Soul For Worship.
If non-worship music is used in a church service how can the congregation prepare themselves for worship? They can’t. Therefore there will be no worship happening. That’s one reason why contemporary music is wrong. None of it really promotes worship. When I hear many of the “Old Time Gospel Hymns” my heart is stirred and I feel the presence of God and I can worship Him whether I am in church, in my car, or setting in my office. Hymns like “He Hideth My Soul” – “It Is Well With My Soul”. Music will either take you closer to God, or distance you from Him.
There is some music today that is used in the church services that if a person was in a worship spirit and then heard that music, the worship spirit would depart.
2Ch 5:13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; (KJV) There was a certain sound of the trumpets and the singers that brought about this worshipful experience among the people. Notice when this sound was right; “….that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD” Notice that the word “LORD” is all capital letters. That is Jehovah God. He is to be the object of our worship. And the right kind of music brought Him to the service. God was present when the music was right. Much of the music that is used in many churches would not cause God to come within ten miles of that place.
It matters what kind of music is played in the worship of the Lord.
II. UNCERTAIN SOUND IN OUR MESSAGE
This is the main reason why I am opposed to ecumenical involvement. The Bible says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3. If the message is to be understandable for all to hear then we must sound forth a good clear message. One that can be easily understood by those we are speaking to.
One of the first things that a person learns in leadership communications is to be sure that all communication is clear and easily understood. No one will be able to respond to a message that is not understood. The reason most instructions are not carried out is they were not clear in message.
Satan’s greatest tool is to make the instructions unclear, and confused.
(The young mother that asked me the directions to Children Hospital.) Several years ago I was pumping gasoline in my car and a young woman pulled up by me and frantically asked if I could tell her how to get to Children’s Hospital. There was a small child in the back seat of the car. I told her hurriedly and she quickly left the service station area. After she left I begin to question myself. “Did I make myself clear? Did I give her enough instructions so she can find the hospital easily and without having to stop and ask someone else. Did I tell her which lane she must be in to make the proper turns. Did I give her enough detail so she will recognize it when she sees it?” I don’t know if it was a life or death matter or not, I never heard anymore from her and do not know to this day if she found the hospital in time. I do know that she needed a good clear instruction on how to find the children’s hospital.
A. The Message Of Salvation Must Be Clear.
Satan has taken the message of salvation and muddied the water so bad until most people do not understand a good clear presentation of the Gospel. There is a thousand different messages when it comes to salvation.
Several years ago I was talking to a man about being saved, and I asked him if he was a Christian. His reply was, “Oh, yes, I joined the Masonic Lodge in 1975.” Somewhere, sometime that gentleman had gotten an unclear message concerning what salvation is. Salvation is the most clear and easy message to understand in all of the Bible, yet Satan has confused it the most. Because confusion will cause millions to go to hell.
I did the funeral of a woman whom I had won to the Lord a few months before. As I spoke of her eternal destiny I feared that I had not made the message clear enough as there was no evidence of true salvation that took place in her life.
The message of salvation is:
1. Recognize you are a sinner.
2. Realize Jesus Christ died for your sin.
3. Repent of your attitude toward God.
4. Receive Christ as you Savior.
That’s the message of salvation. It is very clear and easy to understand, yet so many have confused it until most people do not understand it.
If we could gather together 1000 people who were all members of churches of this area and then have each one of them tell us what the message of salvation was, we would have nearly 1000 different reports. Why? Because the message wasn’t given to them in a clear manner. It was confused.
B. The Message Of Sanctification Must Be Clear.
When a Christian does not grow spiritually the cause is usually that he/she did not understand the procedure for growth. Whoever was teaching the method was not clear or explicit enough for the person to understand how to grow.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (KJV) Jesus tells us that sanctification comes through His Word. There are some organizations that have confused the message of sanctification to the point that many believe that it means they will never sin again. Sanctification comes from a reading and then yielding to the Word of God.
A good clear meaning of the word sanctification is: “Read the Word of God and do the word of God.” Whatever the Bible says – do it. If you read where it says to tithe your income – then tithe. If you read where it says to bring people to Christ – then bring people to Christ. If you read where it says live a godly – holy life then live godly and holy. That’s the process of sanctification.
The message of the Bible is not nearly as complicated as most attempt to make it.
C. The Message Of Service Must Be Clear.
I believe that a lot of people surrender to service that didn’t understand what the purpose really was. The call for service should never present it as fun, entertaining or pleasurable. All of these may be experienced when doing service for God, but they also may not exist. A lot of missionaries have gone to a field of service and spent 30 or 40 years on that field and much of the time it was burdensome, hard, difficult and even stressful. Many lost family members in death. Often times we forget that Luke 11:49 is in the Bible. Lu 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: Some of who? Prophets and Apostles. (KJV) God will send some people somewhere to do His work and His service and those He sends them to will slay and persecute them. This particular warning is usually overlooked or left out of the presentation of service to God. There are some areas of serving God that will always call for the servant to give his life for the Master. The reason that is hard for some is that the decision must be made up front rather than secondary. Mt 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (KJV) Where did the disciples follow Jesus? To the cross. Each one of them died a death related to their call to follow Him. Somewhere in our decision to serve Him we must also make the decision to follow Him to death. Not many churches make that message clear. But it is still there. We paint it with pretty colors and great benefits and rewards to be experienced everyday. I know a missionary in Niger that was in that country for 16 years before he had one soul saved. During that 16 years his family suffered much sickness, hardships, and discouragement. Had he not had a clear call he would probably not have stayed.
D. The Message Of The Church Must Be Clear.
We have so many organizations today that call themselves a church when in actuality they are as far away from a N.T. Church as is an elephant from a humming bird. A church is more than a building, a marquee, and a tax exempt certificate. Satan has messed up the meaning of a church until hardly anyone really understands what it means to be a member of a N.T. Baptist Church. We have people who come and present themselves for membership and when we go into their home and explain what being a member of a Baptist church is, they change their mind and don’t come back. Bro. Kirk and I experienced this just recently. A family had been visiting every Sunday for 8 or 10 weeks and had expressed interest in joining the church. We went to their home and answered their questions and they haven’t been back since.
I have found in talking with Pastors that many have not taught on the doctrine of the Church in years and years. We must repeat the basics of the church often. The reason people follow apostate organizations is they do not know what a true church is.
When I was in the Army I was stationed in Washington D.C. and I toured the Smithsonian Institute once with some other soldiers, and there was a currency display that dealt with counterfeit currency. One of the others asked the guide how they prepared themselves to spot counterfeit money? He made some kind of statement like, “It must be hard to try to familiarize themselves with all the different kinds of counterfeit?” The guide spoke up and said, “Our training is completely centered around the study of real currency”. He said, “When you know the real thing you can spot the false very easily.” Do you suppose that same principal would work in knowing the truth about a N.T. Baptist Church?
III. UNCERTAIN SOUND IN OUR METHODS
When my mother called my name, the method she spoke - told me of the urgency, and the reason. I knew by the method she spoke, if she was angry with me or if she had a reward for me.
Some churches have taken the approach that the ends justify the means, and the method matters not as long as positive results are realized.
I preached a funeral of a baby girl, many years ago, who had drowned and her father got saved during the service. Would it be proper to go out and drown every baby girl so her father might get saved? Absurd! The ends don’t always justify the means.
Many – maybe even most, large churches of today have changed the method to that of attracting through methods of the world. I have told our people if we changed our music, our message and our standards we could fill our building three or times every Sunday, and we could. However, we will not change.
A. God Will Never Change His Holiness To Appease Man’s Methods Of Service.
We can’t do anything and everything and expect God to accept it. It must be done according to His Word. I am not saying that every church has to do everything alike, but there are certain things that will be unacceptable to God. He will not accept the world’s methods as His methods. John the Apostle wrote: 1Jo 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (KJV) That means that the Father, which is God the Father, will reject anything that has the smell or the appearance of the world on it. Even if it be the practices used in a church, and even though those same practices may be bringing in hundreds even thousands of people to a church service.
God would allow the whole world go to hell before He would stain His holiness. His holiness will not allow Him to change and accept the worldliness of mankind.
Most people think that enlargement is the same as growth. It isn’t. If you hit your thumb with a hammer it will get bigger, but it is not growing. Growth in a church can come only when a program of Bible teaching and practice is done.
B. Our Methods Must Identify Us With The Lord Jesus Christ.
Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (KJV)
I have a hard time picturing the Lord Jesus doing some of the things that churches are doing today. I somehow doubt if we would ever see the Lord Jesus coming to church in a pair of cut-off jeans and a halter top shirt, and both arms covered in tattoos, and earrings in both ears and nose.
I know what they say, “Jesus looks on the inside.” He does, but when He changes the inside the outside will follow suit.
IV. UNCERTAIN SOUND IN OUR MINISTRY
A. The Sound Of Purity.
The internet has probably ruined more preachers in the last 10 years than anything else.
I heard a preacher say a few years ago that he personally knew 32 preachers that had left the ministry that year from immoral behavior.
B. The Sound Of Dedication.
A hireling. John 10:12-13.
I had a preacher call me awhile back and we talked for awhile. During the conversation he made the statement that the reason he became a preacher was it seemed like a good way to make a living. He was misinformed in two ways: First of all it is not a good way to make a living. Second – God doesn’t call anyone and then promise them a good living or good benefits. There are good benefits and I enjoy my calling, But to fulfil the calling of God is to be a sacrifice. If the filling of our service to God we are not having to sacrifice then we have made a wrong turn. I have never found anywhere in the Bible where God promises a certain monetary return if we follow Him. Mt 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (KJV) No salary mentioned there. No benefit package brought into the picture.
Notice what He told the scribe who wanted to follow Him. Mt 8:19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (KJV) Jesus told the scribe what the benefits were in following Him. He wanted him to know up front that the benefits weren’t that good.
To make our decision to follow Christ in some kind of ministry based on the monetary value is to be a hireling. A hireling is one who chooses to do the work based on the amount of wage he will receive. Jesus said that the hireling is not trustworthy.
Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. (KJV)
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (KJV)
There are many uncertain sounds coming from many churches and church members today. It may be that these uncertain sounds are coming from someone or something that is not sheep of the family.
Are you a member of the family?
INVITATION
BETH HAVEN BAPTIST CHURCH MINISTRIES
PO BOX 891523
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73189-1523
405-691-8701
icasteel1@cox.net
This sermon and thousands of others are available on a CD Disk that may be purchased for $75.
If interested contact the above address.
