Amen. All right. Well, we're there in Ephesians chapter number five, and I'd like you to look down at verse number 18, Ephesians chapter number five and verse number 18. The Bible says, Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. And this morning, I'm preaching on the subject of music. And over the last several weeks, we have been learning about separation, and we've been studying this idea of separation, and we've been applying it to some specific areas. And today, I want to apply it to the area of music. And I'm preaching on the subject of biblical music standards. And music is something that is extremely important. It's something that is involved in all of our lives. And I want you just by way of introduction to understand a few things. And the first is this, that music is spiritual. The reason that we would preach on music or teach on this subject is because it is part of your spiritual life. It can be part of your spiritual life. Music itself is spiritual. And I would say this, that it can be spiritual in both a good way and a bad way. You'll notice there again in Ephesians 519 that the Bible says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart, notice these words, to the Lord. So we see that it is part of the Christian life. It's part of being filled with the Spirit and worshiping God. It is a spiritual act. Now, if you would, I'd like you to keep your place there in Ephesians chapter 5. That's going to be a text we're going to come back to. And I'd like for you to be able to get to it quickly. So if you can, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there. But go with me, if you would, to the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. And I'd like you to find Psalm 22. Psalm 22 in the center of the Bible. And I'd like you to do me a favor and also, Keep your place in Psalms. Put a ribbon or bookmark or something there. We're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. So those are the two places I'd like you to keep your place in. Ephesians 5 and the book of Psalms. The book of Ephesians and the book of Psalms. Because we're going to be going back and forth between these passages. I want you to notice that music is not only spiritual, but it can be spiritual in a good way, and it can be spiritual in a bad way. It can be used by God, and it can also be used by the devil. In Psalm 22 in verse 2, I want you to notice what the Bible says here. Psalm 22 in verse 2, the Bible says, Oh my God, this is David of course speaking. He says, Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season and Am Not Silent, notice verse 3, he says, Now the thou there is referring to God. He's speaking to God. Verse 2, he said, Oh my God. He's addressing God. Verse 3 he says, And here we have David saying that when the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, who were God's people, when they would open their mouths and they would praise the Lord, they would sing praises to God, that God Himself would inhabit the praises of Israel. Here He says, Oh my God, thou are holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. And that shows you that music is a spiritual thing, and it's something that God can use. I believe that when we gather together and we sing praises to God, that God is in the midst of that, and that the Holy Spirit of God is working through that, and the music is being used to prepare our hearts for the preaching of God's Word. So music can be used by God because the Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. But I want you to notice, not only can music be used by God, but the music can also be used by the devil. And I'd like you to keep your place there in Psalms, but go with me if you would to the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 28. If you're in Psalms, you're going to go past the book of Proverbs, past Ecclesiastes, past Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and then Ezekiel. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 28. The reason that we have to teach on the subject of music And one of the dangers with music is that it can not only be used in a good way, and it can be used by God, and it can be used to sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, but it can also be used by the devil. Now in Ezekiel 28 and verse 13 we have a passage that speaks about the devil. And I'm going to show this to you in verse 13, Ezekiel 28. In verse number 13, the Bible says this, Thou, and Ezekiel here is speaking to an individual. Who is this Thou that he's talking to? Notice, he says, Thou has been in Eden, the garden of God. So he makes a reference back to the Garden of Eden. And the person he's speaking to, he says, you were in Eden, the Garden of God. Now, if you're familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, there were three individuals that were in Eden, the Garden of God. One was Adam, one was Eve, and one was the devil in the form of a serpent. And here, the person being spoken to is the devil. Notice it says, thou has been in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering. the Sardis, Topaz, and the Diamond, the Barrel, the Onyx, and the Jasper, the Sapphire, the Emerald, and the Carbuncle, and Gold. Notice these words. So now we're told something about this individual, the thou being referred to here, and it's the devil. It tells us that the workmanship, the word workmanship refers to the intricate design, the creating of something, the creation of something. We're told the workmanship of thy tabrets. You see that word tabrets there? The word tabret is a reference to an instrument. It is a percussion, a small percussion instrument similar to a tambourine. And it says that the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes, again this is referring to an instrument here probably some sort of a wind instrument like a flute it says was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created look at verse 14 he says thou art the anointed cherub and again we're talking about satan here we know that he was an angel by the name of lucifer before he fell he's the anointed cherub that covereth and i have set thee And of course we know that He fell and He deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, till iniquity was found in thee. But I want you to notice that this passage tells us that Lucifer, who became Satan, who's the devil, who's an anointed cherub, is an angel. The Bible tells us that he was actually created to be a musical, his body was a musical instrument. The Bible says in verse 13, last part of verse 13, The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes were prepared in thee. So we see that his body actually produced music and his body was actually a musical instrument itself and for this reason many people believe and I would agree that it was probably Lucifer who was in charge of the music in heaven and he was the one that was in charge of bringing praise and music and glory to God. And what I want you to understand is this that we need to be wise with regards to all of the devil's devices. The Bible says that we should not be ignorant of the devil's devices. But specially and specifically, we need to be wise with regards to music. Because if there's anyone who knows music, it's the devil whose body is a musical instrument. And He is therefore knowledgeable about music, He understands music, He understands how to use music. It can be used in a good way, like we saw, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel, to worship God. But it can also be used in a bad way, by the devil. and the devil's music. Now let me just say this and we'll get into the sermon. Go to Colossians if you would, Colossians chapter 3. If you kept your place in Ephesians, after Ephesians you have Philippians and then Colossians. If you're here this morning and this is new to you, you've never heard a sermon like this on the subject of music, I want to encourage you to just keep an open heart and an open mind and look at what the Bible says and listen to what I'm going to teach you this morning. and just keep an open mind to the Word of God. For those of you that have heard sermons like this in the past, and it's not new to you, I would say that it's a good thing for you to hear these things again. And oftentimes, the first step that leads someone down the road of becoming backslidden or getting backslidden and ruining their lives, oftentimes you'd be shocked how it's this decision they make to go back to the old music they used to listen to. and the worldly music, the Bible says, like a dog returning to his vomit. People will go back to the music of their youth and they'll start listening to that music and it'll open the door and lead them down a path that ends up ruining their Christian testimony and ruining their lives. Music is important because of the fact that it is spiritual and it can be used both spiritually by God and by the devil. You young people here this morning, you need to be listening. Everyone needs to be listening, but you need to be listening and understanding that the music that you listen to in your youth and the music that you expose yourself to in your youth is going to have an effect on you. Not only is music spiritual, but music is powerful. It is powerful, and it's honestly probably more powerful than you and I really realize. I have a couple of excerpts from some articles that I'd like to read for you. And again, this is all by way of introduction. But just to highlight this idea that music is powerful, here's an article from the Journal of Applied Psychology. It's entitled, The Influence of In-Store Music on Wine Selections. Now let me just say this, I'm not for wine or purchasing wine. This is just a study they did in a wine store. And I'll actually be preaching on alcohol next week. So you can come back for that if you'd like. But here's what they said. A field study conducted in a UK supermarket examined the impact of stereotypical French and German music on customers' wine selections. The results indicated that playing French accordion music led to an increased sales of French wines, while German oompa music boosted sales of German wines. Interestingly, when surveyed, most customers were unaware that the background music had influenced their purchase decisions. And that just shows you the power of music. There is a subconscious power of music that it has an effect on you and an influence on you even if you don't realize it. Here's another article from the New York Post. It's entitled, Music Doesn't Just Evoke Memories, It Can Also Change How We Remember the Past. It says this, research from the Georgia Institute of Technology demonstrated that listening to emotional music can alter the way individuals recall past events. Participants who listen to positive or negative music while recalling neutral stories infuse these stories with emotional elements indicating that music subconsciously influenced memory reconstruction. And again, I just want to highlight for you that whether you realize it or not, whether you understand it or not, the music you listen to, the things that you allow into your ears, and of course the things that you allow into your eyes. The Bible says this, that we can only speak the things which we have seen and heard. And these things that we allow into our minds and into our hearts are going to have an effect on you. And music is this powerful tool that can influence you for good and it can influence you for bad. It is powerful. In fact, it is so powerful that it can have a subconscious effect on you whether you realize it or not. What I'd like to do this morning is give you three thoughts with regards to music. And let me just go ahead and say this, and this is kind of the big disclaimer. I'm not going to give you a music lesson this morning. Sometimes when I preach a sermon like this, people will come up to me afterwards, especially musicians, and they'll wonder why I didn't go into some sort of, you know, lesson about music theory or whatever it might be and I'm not going to do that. First of all, I myself am not a musician and most of you are not musicians. I'm not going to sit here and give you a music lesson. What I'm going to give you is some biblical guidelines and specifically some what I like to call clarifying questions. Some questions that you should ask yourself to help you clarify and to help you guide the decision making when it comes to what kind of music you're going to engage with. What kind of music you're going to listen to, what kind of music you're going to sing or participate in. I just want to give you some thoughts from the Word of God, some biblical guidelines, some questions, clarifying questions to help you decipher what is the type of music that you should and should not engage in, all right? So let me give you these three thoughts, and if you're taking notes, I would encourage you to jot these down. Maybe on the back of your Chorus of the Week, you can jot some of these things down. Number one, when it comes to music, you ought to concern yourself with this question, what does the music promote? What does the music promote? And what I would say to you is this, that music conveys a message. All music conveys a message. We're talking about music that has lyrics to it. Are you there in Colossians chapter 3? Notice verse number 16. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16, the Apostle Paul says this, similar to what he said in Ephesians. Colossians 3, 16, he says, I want you to notice these words. Teaching and admonishing one another. Teaching and admonishing one another. The word teach means to instruct. Teaching there is referring to instructing others. Admonishing means to offer guidance, to offer correction, to offer warning. He says teaching and admonishing one another. Now, if you and I were going to finish this verse, we might finish it this way. Teaching and admonishing one another through the preaching of God's Word. Now that's not incorrect, and the Word of God definitely teaches and admonishes one another. That's not what he's talking about in this specific verse. But I want you to notice what he says. He says, It's interesting that Paul here tells us that when we sing, when we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, in fact when we sing with one another, like we did this morning in our congregational singing before the preaching of God's Word, we're actually teaching and admonishing one another. Why? Because music conveys a message. Music delivers a message. Music communicates a message and it communicates it effectively. There have been all sorts of studies that have showed that a great way to teach somebody something is to put it to music. How do we teach children their ABCs? We teach them a song. Why? Because when you can learn a song and when you can learn music, it's going to be remembered and it's going to be taught more clearly and more easily. This is why there are songs that you haven't listened to in maybe years or decades, yet you walk into some grocery store and they're playing that song and just immediately all the lyrics to the song comes back. Why? Because music is a powerful teacher. Music conveys a message. Once a tune gets in there, once a song gets in there, It's hard to get it out, and some might say it's impossible to ever get it out. And the Bible teaches this concept that when we are singing, we are teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Now, not only does music convey a message, but I would say this, that music persuades a mindset. The thing is that music, like we talked about, influences. Subconsciously, it has an influence. And with the message comes a mindset. With the message comes a lifestyle, a behavior. Music persuades. The Bible says, you don't have to turn here, I'll just read this for you. But in 1 John 2.15, the Bible says, 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. Verse 16 says this, for all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. The Bible tells us that all that is in the flesh, all that is in the world, all the world has to offer is this, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And isn't it true that if you were to listen to the average worldly song out there, if you were, and I don't advise it, if you were to watch the average music video out there, and I do not advise it, but isn't it true that if you were to do those things, that all that you would see would be the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life? That's what the world's music is filled with. And the world's music, and music in general, it promotes something. It conveys something. It persuades something. It conveys a message, and it persuades a mindset. Whether you realize it or not, whether it's conscious or not, you just have to understand that music is going to have an effect on you. It's going to persuade you to a certain way. This is why people who listen to certain music look and act and behave a certain way. You know that I can know what someone, the type of music that someone listens to without ever hearing the music they listen to. Often times you can tell just by the way they're dressed. I mean, if somebody walked into a church this morning, and they had piercings all over their face, and they had long hair as a man, and they had some grungy look, or some dirty look, or, you know, weird colored hair and green hair, if they had black painted fingernails, if they had black gothic clothes on, we could just pretty much tell, okay, we know what kind of music you're into. I mean, we know you're listening to some sort of a rock music, whether it's punk or heavy metal or whatever it might be, just the way, you think it's a coincidence that just everyone that happens to listen to the same kind of music, they all just kind of look and dress the same? I mean, what if somebody walked in here this morning wearing, you know, saggy pants, baggy clothes, a do-rag, all their bling bling? I mean, we would pretty much know like, okay, yeah, we can kind of just tell the kind of music you listen to. What if somebody walked in with just like a huge belt buckle, cowboy boots, and cowboy hat? We just kind of know like, yeah, you listen to country music. You say, why? You say, why is it that everybody listens to the same type of music? They all just kind of look the same, dress the same, act the same. Why? Because music conveys a message. And music persuades a mindset. It conveys and it persuades. It causes people to change their behavior. And you might sit there and say, oh, that's funny. But here's the truth. If you, you say, if I started listening to a certain type of heavy metal music, it would not be long before you started looking and thinking and acting that way. You can take a kid out of the inner city and drop him into the suburbs and they start listening to country music and it won't be long before their belt buckle is bigger than their stomach. And you can take a kid out of the suburbs and drop him in the inner city and it won't be long if they start listening to the hip hop and rap music of the inner city before they start sagging their pants and showing their underwear and looking like a thug. Why? Because music conveys a message. And you say, well, you know, that's just a matter of style. You know, what's the big deal when it comes to that? Well, here's the thing. It's not just the style, although the style is a problem. But you gotta ask yourself, what does the world's music promote? Because when you start listening, if you say, I'm gonna start listening to this type of music, I'm gonna get into this type of music, you have to understand that you're opening yourself up, subconsciously, whether consciously or subconsciously, you're opening yourself up to the message of that music. And look, music always conveys a message. I mean, let's just be honest, rock and roll. Nobody will deny this. I mean, nobody who's honest will deny this. Christians who are honest will agree with this, and even worldly people who are honest will agree with this. The only people who will deny what I'm about to say is backslidden Christians. But let's just be honest. What does rock and roll music promote? It promotes drugs. Am I lying? It promotes fornication. It promotes rebellion. It promotes self-destruction. It promotes violence. It promotes the occult. Isn't that true? I mean, look, you don't have to believe me or you don't have to, you know, do what I say. What music you listen to is between you and God, but can we just, can we be honest? Rock and roll music It brings about, conveys a certain message. It persuades a certain mindset. And if you've got a young person and you're letting them listen to a bunch of rock and roll music, don't be surprised when they start rebelling against you and slitting their wrists. Because that's the message conveyed by the music. Drugs, fornication, rebellion, self-destruction, violence, the occult. What about rap, hip-hop? And I'm picking on these just because these are the well-known ones. You could do this with probably anything. But what about hip hop music, rap music? What does it promote? Drugs, marijuana, gangs, fornication, alcohol, covetousness, the party lifestyle. Isn't that true? Is anybody gonna stand up here this morning and tell me, no, no, that's not true. Rap music does not promote gang violence. No, I've never heard a rapper talk about smoking marijuana. And look, you come to a church like this, and then you decide, oh, I'm gonna start listening to that old music I used to listen to as a kid. Yeah, that's why you're smoking weed. Like a 13-year-old. Because that's what 13-year-olds are listening to, and 14-year-olds, and 15-year-olds, or whatever. Music conveys a message, and music persuades a mindset. So you gotta ask yourself, what does the music promote? What does the music promote? What about country music? I bring up country music because this is one that Christians love to bring up. Christians will act, I've even talked to pastors who are like, well, I'm a Christian, so I listen to country music. But look, Google, I did this yesterday, I just Googled, what does country music promote? And last I checked, Google is not a fundamental Baptist. I mean, last I checked, they're not conservative Christians over at Google. And here's what it said. It brought up this whole list, and it said patriotism, hard work. But you know, in different lists, on different lists, this was either the first, second, or third thing on different lists, what does country music promote? Alcohol. And it was just, and there was this whole article about how alcohol is a huge theme in country music. It promotes drinking alcohol, but it promotes fornication, it promotes adultery, it promotes this complaining, whiny, you know, my wife left me, my dog died. Attitude and then the thing that's bad about country music is that it tries to like fit in Jesus You know, they think it just because they mentioned God or something that it's supposed to be okay Look when there's a famous country song that says this guy's thinking about where he came from and he says it was where I drank my first beer it's where I found Jesus that is not honoring to the Lord It's not something Christians should be listening to and saying, like, oh, well, look, he mentioned Jesus. He said, it's where I drank my first beer. It's where I found Jesus. That's a mockery of Christianity. And look, you don't have to like it. You can like it or love it. It doesn't make a difference to me. I'm just telling you the truth. You do what you want with it. But what I'm saying to you is this. When it comes to music, you have to concern yourself with what does the music promote? What are they talking about? Because if you start listening to certain types of music and being exposed, you're going to become covetous. You're going to start fornicating. You're going to become lustful. You're going to start drinking. You're going to want to do these things. Why? Because music conveys a message. And music persuades a mindset. And music will influence you both consciously and subconsciously. So you have to ask yourself, what does the music promote? There's a second question you have to ask yourself. You're there in, I'm not sure where you're at, but go with me if you would to the book, go back to Psalms. Let me give you a second question. What does the music promote? Because music conveys and music persuades. Music conveys and music persuades. And if you start listening to any kind of music, any type of music, it's going to convey a message, it's going to persuade a mindset, and you need to be aware that you're gonna be influenced in that way, consciously or subconsciously. So number one, what does the music promote? But then secondly, let me say this, not only should you concern yourself with what does the music promote, you have to concern yourself with what is the music patterned after? What is the music patterned after? You know, when it comes to music and when it comes to these types of sermons, the question we're asking is this, what's good music and what's bad music? And what makes music bad is, number one, worldly lyrics, like we just talked about. The actual message where it's telling you to go kill cops and rob liquor stores or whatever. You know, worldly lyrics are A bad is what makes music bad. We talked about that in the last point. But that's not the only thing. A worldly style is what makes music bad. The Bible says in Romans chapter 12, you're in Psalms, you don't have to go to Romans, but in Romans 12 the Bible says this, Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, verse 2 says this, and be not conformed to this world. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The Bible says that we as Christians, and that's not a verse on music, that's just a general guideline. There's all sorts of general guidelines given in scripture that apply to everything. And here God is telling us that we ought not to be conformed to this world. And when it comes to your music, you gotta concern yourself with what is the music patterned after? What is the music that I'm listening to conformed to? Not just the lyrics, but also the style. Because here's what, Christians will do. They'll say, well, yeah, I mean, the bad hip-hop of this world, yeah, they talk about drugs and alcohol and this and that, but I listen to Christian hip-hop. Or the rock and roll music of this world, they're talking about slitting your wrists and rebelling against your race, but I listen to Christian rock music. I listen to Christian country western music. Well, here's the thing. The Bible says that we are not to be conformed to this world. Does God want us to take the world's music, the pattern and style of the world, and say, well, let's just take their pattern and style and just add Jesus on there? What is it that makes music bad? What makes music bad is not just the lyrics, but also the style, not just what it's saying, not just the message, but also the method. And you gotta ask yourself, is the music you listen to conform to this world? And be not conformed to this world. And I'm gonna say this, and look, I'm gonna say some things that maybe some musicians are gonna disagree with, and I don't care. I'm the pastor, and I'll say whatever I want. But let me say this, beware of this idea of genres. Genre music. Let me explain something to you. Not all music falls into genres. People want to act like every piece of music falls into a genre, but it's not true. There is some music that's just music. What is music? just melody, harmony, rhythm. But we live in a society where we're brainwashed into this idea of genre music. And here's a common question that people will ask. People will ask this question, what kind of music do you listen to? What kind of music do you like? The problem with that question is that the question begins with this assumption that there's only a kind of music that you should like. Or several kinds of music. Somebody asks you, what kind of music do you listen to? They want you to say like, oh, jazz. What kind of music do you listen to? Rap. What kind of music do you listen to? Rock, pop, whatever. What kind of music do you listen to? This idea that we have to fall into genres. Here's the thing. The devil has created all these genres of music. Why? Because when you think of a genre, just think this. It's patterned after the world. And the Bible says, be not conformed to this world. Somebody asked me, what kind of music do you listen to? I'm like, I don't know, the kind with notes? What kind of music do you listen to? The kind that you play on instruments? The kind that you sing? What makes music bad is worldly lyrics and a worldly style, a worldly association. Let me explain to you what doesn't make music bad. Because look, the battle with music for most people is on this extreme where you got a bunch of Christians listening to a bunch of worldly music. And then you wonder why it's so hard for you to be interested when the Word of God is being preached. You wonder why it's so hard for you to get out soul winning. You wonder why it's so hard for you to read the Bible. You wonder, because you're filled with the world's garbage. Of course you're not interested in spiritual things. Of course you're not. Look, singing to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, that's how you're going to get filled with the Spirit of God. But what Christians often want, you know, you preach a sermon like this and then here's what people want. They want me to tell them like, this is what makes good music and this is what makes bad music. And look, you're gonna have to develop a little bit of just sensitivity to the Holy Spirit of God where you can hear something and realize, number one, those lyrics are bad, but also number two, that sound is bad. That sound, because music has a subconscious effect, and because music has this ability to bring you back, nostalgia, and bring up memories. You say, well, I'm in church, and I'm listening to music that is Christian, but the sound of the music is reminding you of your days when you used to go clubbing, of the days when you used to hang out at bars. It's not just the lyrics, it's also the style. People want you to tell them like, well, this is the technical reason why it makes music good and what makes music bad. Listen, music is spiritual. If it's inhabited by God, it's good. If it's inhabited by the devil, it's bad. Let me just say a few things with regards to this. There are no notes or chords that are inherently bad. There are only notes and chords that can be used for good music and used for bad music. It's a tool that can be used for good or bad. It can be used by God, it can be used by the devil. It's not a matter of old or new music. I think people sometimes they want me to tell them like, old music good, new music bad. It's not that simple. There's some old music that's bad. And there's some new music that's good. We're not, you know, we sing traditional songs here at our church and we obviously have a hymn book. We sing the old hymns, but we sing new songs too. And they're not bad. Here's a song that we sing that we love at our church. It's called Rejoice in the Lord. It was written by Ron Hamilton. Ron Hamilton just died, I think last year, a couple of years ago. I mean, this was written in the last couple of decades. And we sing, God never moves without purpose or plan. It's just notes. It's just melody. It's just harmony. It's just rhythm. It's all balanced. But you wouldn't sing the song, rejoice in the Lord. He makes no mistake. He knoweth the way. You wouldn't hear that and think, oh, well, that's country. Well, that's R&B. You know, be weary of this falling into this genre trap. And you say, well, is music bad? No, God, look, God inhabits music. God, I believe He created music. But we don't want music that's patterned after the world. It's not a matter of new music being bad and old. We sing a song called We Need the Church, written by Natalie Rains. I mean, Natalie Rains, used to give my son piano lessons. It's a new song. I mean, the lady is still alive. It's written in the last few years. So there's new music that's fine, and there's old music that's bad. So it's not that certain notes are bad and certain chords are bad. It's not that old is bad and new is good. It's not, let me say this, it's not that being secular is bad. This might surprise some of you, but I don't think that all secular music is bad. You say, well, what kind of secular music is fine? The kind that doesn't have worldly lyrics and the kind that doesn't have worldly style. It's not just that if it's secular, it's bad, and if it's Christian, it's good. Look, there's secular music that's not bad. Now, I will say that a lot of secular music is bad, probably most secular music is bad, but you know that there's some music out there that's just music. It's just melody, harmony, and rhythm. And I realize people are gonna try to put it into genres or whatever, But it's just music. What genre is this? For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny. And I know people are going, well, that's folks, you know, whatever, traditional folk music. It's just music. It's just notes and harmony and lyrics. And there's no bad message unless the guy's actually not a jolly good fellow. You know, there's no bad message, there's no bad pattern. How about this one? What's wrong with this? Doe, a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun. I'll actually teach you to sing. Me, a name, I call myself, for a long, long way to run. Saw, a needle pulling thread, law, a note to follow so. Tea, a drink of jam and bread, this will bring us back to Doe. I mean, that's not a Christian song. We're not gonna stand up here and say, take your songbooks and go to page number 32, we're gonna sing Do Re Mi. Sing it out on the first Do, a deer, a female, it's just a song. And I know people are gonna say like, oh, that's a musical or whatever. Look, is there something wrong with Do being a deer, a female deer? There's no bad message there. And there's no worldliness to it. How about this one? Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear so and so, happy birthday to you. How about this one? We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. People say, well that falls in the genre of Christmas music. Okay, well let me explain something to you. That's not a Christian song. But there's nothing wrong with it. We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. How about this? Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain. America, America, God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. It's just music. And people are going to say, well, that falls in the genre of patriotic. Yeah, but you know what? So does I'm proud to be an American. And they're very different styles of music. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? What's wrong with this? B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and bingo. What's his name-o? Look, I'm just telling you, there's music out there that's just notes. It's just melody. It's just harmony. It's just rhythm. It's just balance. And it's just songs. They're just songs that we sing. But when you fall into this trap that, no, I've got to get into this patterned after the world lifestyle. Am I going to start sagging my pants because I'm singing, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a... Hold on a second. Let me put my do-rag on so I can sing, for he's a jolly good fellow. It's not going to have that effect on me. Why? Because it's not styled after anything worldly. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, it's not of the Father, but it's of the world. And when you listen to music that is styled after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, when it conveys the message of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, it's gonna have an influence on you. So you gotta ask yourself, what does the music promote? And you gotta ask yourself, what is the music patterned after? Let me say this, there are no instruments that are inherently bad. Now as fundamental Baptists and as Christians, you know, as conservative Christians, we don't have, we don't use drum sets at Mary Baptist Church. And we're never going to. And I'm against it. But you know, I'm not against it because there's just something evil. People try to preach against drums and they're like, drums started in Africa with these tribes that were worshiping the devil. Look, there's no notes out there or instruments out there that are inherently bad. Obviously, tribal Satan music is bad. I'm not saying that that's not bad. What I'm saying is, instruments are not inherently bad. They're just instruments. But they can't, there isn't a, you say, Pastor, why don't we have a trap set up here? You know, it's just some guy, just. Because it's associated with a certain type of music, with a worldly music. But the instruments themselves aren't bad. One of our musicians actually gave me this verse, and I thought it was a good point. Look at Psalm 150. Psalm 150 in verse 5, the Bible says, praise Him upon the loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. Here we're being commanded to praise God and to use a certain instrument. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals, praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. A cymbal is a percussion instrument. And the reason I bring this up is because it's a percussion instrument like a drum. It's meant to carry a beat. And here, God says, praise Him upon the loud cymbals, praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. There's nothing wrong with percussion instruments. I do think there's something wrong when harmony, melody, and rhythm get out of balance. There's some music that emphasizes a beat over everything else. And they emphasize certain things. Music needs to be balanced, and we can talk about that another day. But what I'm saying to you is this, there aren't any instruments that are inherently bad, but there is worldly association, there is worldly influence, that are bad. But I'm not gonna sit here and tell you, drums are evil, drums are of the devil. Well, I like the Christmas song, Little Drummer Boy. Rum pum pum pum pum. Right? Rom-pum-pum-pum-pum, me and my drum. But here's what I'm saying to you, is that there is a world of difference between the drummer who's drumming in a marching band versus the guy with long hair and ripped up jeans behind a glass at a rock concert. The problem's not the drum. The problem is the lyrics and the problem is the association, the style. There are no instruments that are inherently bad. There's just worldly associations and worldly influence. You know, I'm against, we're not gonna use, you know, just like these rock and roll guitars. But I'm not against normal guitars, acoustic guitars. You say, well, what, are they evil? No, there's just an association with them. Do you understand what I'm saying? There's a style that goes along with that, that we just want to see her clear from. So you gotta ask yourself, what does the music promote? You gotta ask yourself, what is the music patterned after? Then thirdly this morning, go with me if you would to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32. And I hope you understand, I'm not giving you a music lesson. I'm just giving you some guidelines, some biblical guidelines to help you understand and to come to your own conclusion. And please don't start texting me links or emailing me links to your playlist, asking me to approve your music. Look, that's between you and God. You take these guidelines and ask yourself, what does it promote? What is it patterned after? Take these guidelines and let that guide you. Is this something that God would want you to listen to? So number one, what does the music promote? Number two, what is the music patterned after? And then number three, here's the last one. You gotta ask yourself this question. What does the music produce? What does the music produce? Does it produce worldliness? Or does it produce godliness? In Exodus 32, I think there's an interesting story. I want you to see it. Exodus 32, verse 17, the Bible says this, and when Joshua heard the noise, of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. So Joshua and Moses are up on the mountain, alone with God, and he hears this noise. He heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and he said unto Moses, he hears it and he says, there is a noise of war. There is a war going on down in the camp. There is a noise of war in the camp, verse 18. And he, Moses said, it is not the voice of men. So Joshua says to Moses, do you hear that? It sounds like there's war in the camp. And then Moses listens in and then he says, Verse 18, and he said, it is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, meaning it's not the voice of people that are winning a battle, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome. It's not the shout of people shouting because they're losing a battle. He says, but the noise of them that sing do I hear. I mean, I think that's really interesting. Joshua says, I hear noise that sounds like a war. And Moses says, no, that's not war, that's a concert. I mean, I don't know what kind of singing they were doing. I don't know what kind of music they were listening to. But I would imagine that if they were having some rock, heavy metal rock concert, yeah, that would sound like the noise of war. There's some rap concerts that probably sound like the noise of war. Joshua here is right with God, right with the Lord, just an innocent young man. And he says, I hear the noise of war in the camp. And Moses says, it's not the noise of war. He said, but the noise of them that sing do I hear. Look at verse 19. And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf. So I want you to notice this. They've got a certain type of music going on down there. We don't know what kind of music it was, but we know this. Joshua thought it was the noise of war. And when they get down there, here's what they find. They find the people are worshiping a golden calf. Look at verse 19. So here's what we know. They're worshiping an idol. They were dancing. Look down at verse number 25. Exodus 32-25. So, they're dancing. They're singing songs that sound like war. They're naked. 1 Corinthians 10 verses 7 and 8, referring back to the story, tells us that the people were fornicating. So they're naked, they're dancing, they're fornicating, the music sounds like war. Look, what does this music produce? This music, whatever it was, it produced a bunch of worldliness. And look, you go down and don't do it. I'm not telling you to do it, but what I'm saying to you is go down to these raves, go down to these concerts, and what are you going to find? A bunch of drugs, a bunch of alcohol, a bunch of fornication, a bunch of nakedness. Why? Because music conveys a message. Music persuades a mindset. Music influences. So you've got to concern yourself. What is it patterned after? What does it promote? Why? You say, why should I care what it promotes? Why should I care what it's patterned after? Here's why. Because it's going to produce something. And it's either going to produce worldliness or it's going to produce godliness. Go back to Psalms, if you kept your place in Psalms, Psalm 40. Psalm 40. And again, I've seen this. I've seen this so often where people who are living separated lives, they're faithful to church, faithful to their families, love the Lord, read the Bible, and then they just decide like, oh, I'm just going to start listening to the radio. Just on my way to work. I'm just gonna listen to this one band I used to listen to when I was a kid. And it just begins the spiral, and it leads them down a road. Why? Because music will influence you whether you realize it or not. So it produces worldliness or it could produce godliness. Look at Psalm 40 in verse 1. The Bible says to the chief musician of Psalm of David, I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. Look at verse 3. The Bible says, and He hath put a new song in my mouth. Some of you need a new song in your mouth. You need to get rid of that old song from that old flesh. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praises unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. I want you to look at this verse. Notice what he says. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praises unto our God. Many shall see it. Many shall see what? What is the it he's referring to? He says, "...many shall see it, and when they see it, they will fear and shall trust in the Lord." What is the it? The it is the new song and the praise. Look at it. "...and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many shall see it." Many shall see the new song and hear the new praise. And many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Look, here's what I'm saying to you. Is that music will produce something. it'll produce something. My pastor growing up used to say it this way, as goes the music, so goes the church. When a church decides to go down a certain path of music, it's going to lead them down a certain path because music always produces something. Show me the church, look, I'm just saying to you, show me the local New Testament church where the pastor is preaching the word of God faithfully, He's preaching the word, instant, in season, out of season, reproof, rebuke, where the people are living separated lives, where they're soul winning, they're living separated lives, they're on fire for the Lord, they're spiritual. Show me that church and show me a church that just turns the lights off and brings in the rock concert. You're not gonna find it. You understand what I'm saying to you? You're not gonna find a church where you walk in, and the lights are off, and it looks like a rock concert, and the laser beams are going, and the smoke machines are on, and they get up there, and they have their little rock concert for an hour and a half, and then the pastor gets up and just rips face against it. You're not gonna find it. You're just not gonna find it, why? Because music produces something. That type of music produces worldly, weak, anemic Christians. Sometimes people come to church like this, and they'll say, man, pastor, I really like your preaching. I like the fact how you just go verse by verse, and you don't hold back, and it's dynamic, and it's authoritative. I love the preaching. And then they'll say something like this. They'll say, but the music. Which to me, that's ridiculous, because I feel like we've got the best music in the world. But they'll say like, well, but the music, you know, I just feel like if we brought in something a little more contemporary. And what they mean by that is something a little more worldly. Because I'm not against contemporary. I mean, rejoicing in the Lord is contemporary if you understand what the word contemporary means. But they're talking about worldly music. If we just bring something a little more worldly, you know, that type of preaching with a little more, you know, worldly music, man, we could really reach people. But this is what I say to people. If we brought in that type of music, you wouldn't have that type of preaching. They don't go hand in hand. You're not going to have the rock concert church and sound biblical doctrine. So it's not going to happen. because music produces. So you gotta ask yourself, does it produce worldliness or does it produce godliness? And look, whatever music you're interested in, I don't care if it's jazz, I don't care, whatever it is, country, rap, hip hop, R&B, whatever, pop, techno, I mean, who in the world, but whatever. You know, whatever your music, just look at what does it produce? The people that listen to that type of music, that engage in that type of music, what kind of people are they? And if they're a bunch of drug addict, drunkards, fornicating, God blaspheming, then you gotta ask yourself, is that how you wanna end up? Because music will produce. It will produce something. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 16 real quickly. I'm gonna show you three more verses, we'll be done, all right? 1 Samuel, chapter 16. If you go backwards from Psalms, you've got Job, Esther, Nehemiah, Ezra, 2nd and 1 Chronicles, 2nd and 1 Kings, 2nd and 1 Samuel. If you find those one and two books that are all clustered together, 2nd and 1 Chronicles, 2nd and 1 Kings, 2nd and 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, chapter 16. Music either produces worldliness or it produces godliness. 1 Samuel 16, 23, the Bible says this. And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took in heart and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. I want you to notice that this highlights, this highlights the power of music. And Saul wasn't even right with God, but when he was listening to godly music, at least for that moment, It refreshed him. It relieved him. And there's all sorts of studies out there that show that music is being used to deal with all sorts of mental health issues and even physical ailments because music is powerful. And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul that David took in a harp and played with his hand. And so Saul was refreshed and was well and the evil spirit departed from him. Go to 2nd Kings chapter number 3. 2nd Kings chapter number 3. You learn 1st Samuel, you'll go past 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 2nd Kings. 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 2nd Kings. Again, I'm not giving you a music lesson this morning, but I am giving you some biblical guidelines. Some clarifying questions that should guide your music, the music you engage in. The reason I say music you engage in, because it's not just listening to it. Yeah, it's listening to it. But it's also what you listen to, what you sing. It's also what you use, what you allow in your life, what you allow exposure in your life. What does the music promote? What is the music patterned after? Number three, what does the music produce? And here's all I'm saying. Does the music that you listen to, does it leave you filled with the Holy Spirit or does it leave you full of the flesh? In 2 Kings 3, verse 14, the Bible says this, and Elisha, this is of course the man of God, said, This is Elisha speaking to King Jehoram, who is the son of Ahab and Jezebel. They're asking him to prophesy, and he's saying, I'll do it for Jehoshaphat, but not for you. Verse 15, the Bible says, but now, this is Elisha speaking, he says, but now bring me a minstrel. The word minstrel, is an older word that means a musician he says bring me a musician and it came to pass when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him I don't know what that minstrel was playing but whatever he was playing it was good because the Spirit of God used it and Elisha's right with the Lord And when he hears this music playing, the hand of the Lord came upon him. By the way, this is one of the reasons why we sing songs before the preaching of the Word of God. And we want to encourage you to sing because maybe you say, why should I sing? Because maybe, maybe for the first time in your life, maybe a miracle will happen and the Holy Spirit of God will actually come upon you. And you'll actually be ready to receive the preaching of the Word of God. Here, Elisha said, I'm going to give you the word, but he said, bring me a minstrel. And when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord was upon him, the Bible says. But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him. Go back to Ephesians chapter 5. That's the last place we'll look at if you kept your place through Ephesians chapter 5. Here's a question. Does the music you listen to, Does the music you engage with, does the music that you allow to influence you and your family, does the music leave you filled with the Spirit, or does it leave you full of the flesh? Ephesians 5. We focused in on verse number 19, but I want you to notice verse 18, because verse 19 is in the context of verse 18. Ephesians 5.18 says this, We're going to talk about that next week. But notice what he says. He says, but be filled with the Spirit. Here's a command from God. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. And in that context, he says, be filled with the Spirit, verse 19, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. The music you listen to will either leave you filled with the Spirit or leave you full of the flesh. And I think if you ask these questions, what does the music promote? What is the music patterned after? And what does the music produce? I think it'll be obvious. Whether it's music that God can use, or whether it's music that the devil uses. Let's bow our head tonight in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. And Lord, we pray, I pray, that you would allow us to be Christians who allow you to guide every area of our lives. Lord, help us never to get this idea that says, well, God can have everything except my music. God can have everything except this area. Lord, let us surrender all to you, give all to you. Lord, help us to use these principles from Scripture to guide us. Help us, Lord, to ask these questions, to ask ourselves, does the music promote the right things? Is it patterned? after good things, is it going to produce something spiritual and help us to be people that give ourselves to good music. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. All right, well we're going to have Brother Andrew come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to give you a couple of