If you'd stand with me this evening as we turn to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Let me begin by reading one verse from this chapter. There's a few other verses that we will look at. I'd like to begin our message here this evening on the subject of contemporary Christian music. Is it a blessing or is it blasphemy will be the questions that we'll be asking this evening in considering them. On this side of the pulpit, I have There are several tracts that we've had in the library for years on rock music, contemporary Christian music. And so, we've had those for years. I'm sure that you've read them. Now, notice as we come to this passage, and I'm going to be referring to this probably most of the time, just simply CCM. And you'll notice here as we come to Deuteronomy chapter 32, reading in verse 31. Now, we're going to back up and read a few other verses, but verse 31, We find here, he said, for their rock is not our rock, even as our enemies themselves bring judges. Notice he said, for their rock is not our rock. And I'll say a little bit more about that in just a few moments. Father, we thank You tonight for the privilege that You've given us to assemble together in Your house with Your people. And Lord, we ask this evening that You'd meet with us. We pray, Lord, this evening that You would teach us And dear God, we ask Your anointing and blessing upon the reading of Thy Scripture. Again, we ask, Lord, that You would be with us, that You would meet with us. For it is in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. And you may be seated. For nearly 27 years that I've been preaching, and when I get on a subject like this, I have chosen not to use any audio or video clips, and I have a reason for doing that. Other preachers will use them, and I've never felt comfortable with using them. I even went to the point this week of actually making some recordings and so forth, audio, and there's access to video recordings. I mean, you can just get about anything you want now. And after even recording some audio and considering this, I said, no, I still would rather just preach It would probably make it more real to you if you could hear the music, but there's just something I've always felt uncomfortable about doing that with a congregation. I just don't feel good about it. So, tonight and next week, next week we're going to be looking at the subject of southern gospel music. I'm not going to use any outside. I'll use some quotes. And this is another one of those messages this evening. whereby that you just must bear with me as we go through this. I'd rather preach as I did this morning, no quotes and just Scripture, and just let loose and preach. But as we deal with this subject, it's an important subject, and so I do have a number of things. You'll see me shifting through what I will decide to read and give you the quotes and what I will not read. So you'll see me looking down a lot at what I've got laying here on the pulpit. Now, first of all this evening, Let me say this, for many years, I have warned people about contemporary Christian music. We had a couple number many years ago, 15 years ago, that came to visit us and they were listening to Sandy Patty and Amy Grant and some other, they came out of the world and gotten saved and now involved in ministry and they were listening to this type of music and I gave them warning. And they heeded to that. The only thing is they ran to another style of music and took it up, which it later just about destroyed their family. Now, as we consider this subject this evening, Monday of this week, and I just wanted to refresh my memory, I walked through Christian Bookstore, if you can call it that. And I began writing down a list of the artists and the albums and the songs and so forth, as I've done some years ago. It's been a while. And just a few, starting off with the Gaithers, and we're going to address them next week. And Elvis Presley, a whole set of his music, yes, was in the Christian bookstore. Johnny Cash and many, many others. Now, I want you to listen this evening. Here are some of the top names in the CCM industry. Here's at least 30, starting off with Petra, Amy Grant, Sandy Patty, Ray Bolts, DC Talk, Pod, Avalon, Creed, U2, which is now totally rock and roll, Deliverance, Mary Mary, Newsboys, Point of Grace, Jars of Clay, Carmen, Zo Girls, Barlow Girls, Michael W. Smith, Gary Chapman, Toby Mack, Striper, Mercy Me, Holy Soldier, Switchfoot, Steve Count, Michael English, Kurt Franklin, Amy Carmichael, For Him, Delirious, Bride, Third Day and Hillsong. These are the over 30 that I've actually done the research on. Some of them I was not familiar with. Others I were. And let me tell you this, this group is called Delirious. You can rest assured that they're delirious. Now, I'm going to use Deuteronomy 32 to begin our message this evening. And he says here in this passage we just read, For their rock is not our rock, in verse 31. I'm going to back up to verse 1, and we're going to read a few verses here. And before I do that, let me say this also this evening. I've got a few quotes here to just begin with, because I want to come back to just the rock and roll music as I preached not too many weeks ago and titled it, The Beatles. Christian rock, there is no such thing For it is like saying Christian prostitution, Christian adultery, or Christian homosexuals. Once it becomes rock, and please understand this, it ceases to be Christian. Now, why would I say that? The CCM artists, what they have done, they have borrowed the rock beat, and it's now in the Southern Gospel, has been for a number of years. They have borrowed the rock beat and they imitate the rock stars. Now, I don't suggest that you go on the computer and start looking for some of these, but if you did, you'll see that they're totally and completely imitating the rock stars. There are many resources today to be able to find out what people believe and what they're doing. The CCM artists, again, their music is basically based upon rock and roll music. And that was one of the reasons, as I began looking at this series, is I would preach on rock music first, and I'll carry you all the way back into the 50s and 60s and lay a foundation. Then we would come to contemporary Christian music and then move to Southern Gospel music. Now, in the 1950s, an Ohio disc jockey, and I mentioned this a few weeks back, by the name of Alan Freed, he coined the term rock and roll. which is a ghetto term for sexual fornication. And you can figure that out yourself if you just think about it. Years ago, before I became a Christian, I used to smoke marijuana to the style of music that's played now in most churches. What is it? It is rock and roll with Jesus thrown in every now and then. It's satanic beat. It's voodoo beat. And I'm going to give you some quotes for this. And I want you to understand this. that it has to do with voodoo beat. And this is the thing that most people fail to see, is that voodoo priests use the beat to summon spirits. Now, this thing is real. One priest made this statement, a voodoo priest. He said, the rhythm is more important than the words. Our God responds to rhythm above all things. In the Rolling Stones magazine, February 12, 1976, it says, rock music has always been the devil's music. The drummer for the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart, of the 1960s and 70s, he has written a book on drumming and he went Around the world, he went to places like West Africa and studied drumming and he said, this is the rhythm that's in rock and roll. That is what's in voodoo and the shamans and the priests and whatever used to conjure up evil and demonic spirits. Timothy Leary, the 1960 LSD guru, he said, don't listen to the words. It is the music that has its own message. B.B. King said, the women reacted with their bodies flowing to the rhythm coming out of my guitar. And then others, LA Times 80788 said, listen, rock and roll ain't church. It's a nasty business. You've got to be nasty too. If you're goody-goody, you can't sing and play it. Kids don't pay to see nice. They want aggression. They want anger. And some sleaze too. They want rebellion. Now, the reason I'm going back and taking five minutes here to talk about rock and roll music, please understand, you go check every one, and I hope I mention Carmen as I came down this list. You go back and check every one of these that I just mentioned off, all 33 names and groups. And then you can go beyond that and every one of them has rock and roll beat in their music. Another person, John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, and I'm going back and I purposefully go back many years because that is the beginning and history of rock and roll. He said this. He said, by carefully controlling the sequence of the rhythms, any pop performer can create audience hysteria. We know how to do it. And they actually created a riot in Phoenix as an experiment. Another rock star said, rock music is sex. The big beat matches the body's rhythm. Another one, John Kay of Steppenwolf. This again is an older band. He said, one of the reasons we're successful is that we're able to keep the music hard and direct so that it communicates directly with the body. Another writer said, the loud sounds and the bright lights of today are tremendous indoctrination tools. Little Richard said, I was directed and commanded by another power, the power of darkness. He said, the power of the devil, that is, Satan. So let me again, and I could give you a hundred quotes that I've accumulated on rock stars alone. So now when I get into the subject of CCM tonight, I want you to understand the bridge was built between rock and roll of the 50s and 60s with CCM. And I'm going to give you the history of CCM in just a moment, how it began, where it began. And that's the reason I've got all this material laying here and some quotes. And of course, a lot of this is my own teaching, but I'm going to quote from other authors I've just done there. I want you to understand this evening that as we step into this area and begin looking at it, the very beat of CCM is satanic and is connected with voodoo, and voodoo worship uses this as to bring up evil spirits. So you can imagine what is taking place in the churches across our land and in CCM concerts. Now, you'll notice with me... And for just time's sake, I was going to read several verses in this chapter. You can write these down. I was going to read verses 1 through 5, and then I was going to drop down and read it verse 16, 17, and verse 18. And I'll challenge you to read that this week. But for time's sake, I'm afraid I'll run out of time. So I want you to notice with me. Let's go to verse 4. And notice this, is that he said, he is the rock. His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is He." As you read through this chapter, you'll find out there's more than one rock. Jesus Christ is our rock. 1 Corinthians 10 and in verse 4. And Matthew 7 says that we're to build upon the rock. So there is more than one rock, and I'm saying to you is that we are built upon the rock that we find in this Bible, and I'm saying to you that CCM music is not built upon that same rock. They have another rock. Now, notice in 1 Timothy chapter 6, and let's get started into our outline this evening. 1 Timothy chapter 6, and you'll notice with me, I'm going to take one verse. We may read more than one, but there's one verse I'm interested in when I come to this particular chapter. Now, we're going to talk about, first of all, the origin of CCM. I want you to understand that CCM is about money. popularity and glorifying the artist the same as rock and roll music. CCM is big business today. Over $1 billion a year industry. That's how big it is. It is all about entertainment. It's about concerts. It is about performances. It is about selling CDs and selling DVDs. In other words, that's what it's all about. It is about selling the gospel and also selling out the gospel. And one-quarter of the sales of the Christian bookstores are from music. Now think about it. When you walk into a music store, a Christian bookstore, one-fourth of the sales in that bookstore is from music. Now listen to this. Most of the music found in Christian bookstores is CCM. So probably near one-fourth of the money that's made in these bookstores is from, or near that much, from CCM music. Most Christian radio stations today play CCM music, and in the majority of churches across our land, you also have CCM music. Now, let me give you a quote. I've got about three or four quotes here I'm going to intermingle together. And here's the first one, and it says that the CCM industry sold nearly 50 million albums in 2001, raking in more money than the jazz, the classical segments of the music business. Most of the major CCM producers and distributors are now owned by secular corporations. Now listen to what I'm saying. Over 90% of them. It says, World Magazine reported that secular media companies swallowed up more than 90% of Christian recording labels in the 1990s. I'm still quoting it. It said, World Entertainment, a secular corporation, is home such CCM heavyweights as 4M, Amy Grant, Mary Mary, Wes King, Nicole Mullen, and Anointed. EMI owned 70 music companies made up of CCM artists and secular artists such as Janet Jackson, Spice Girls, Beastie Boys, and older groups such as Pink Floyd, Grand Funk Railroad, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Billy Idol, Blondie, and Poison. In 1995, there were 250 radio stations that carried CCM as their primary music format. We're talking about big business. We're talking about a generation raised on rock and roll music that now has brought it in to the church of Jesus Christ. Another quote says that Integrity Music, how many are familiar with that here in our area? Integrity Music, which owns Hosanna Music, Fair Hope Records, and Vertical Music, which had $58 million in sales in 2000, has intimate partnership with secular corporations such as Sony and Timelite. In other words, we see this merging together, and they're coming together in order to produce records and make money, that's what all of this is about. And some of these record companies that they have partnered with is, one of them is Sony Music Entertainment, and it says that they publish and distribute immoral music groups such as Michael Jackson, Babyface, Bone Thugs, Incubus, Black Sabbath, and Ozzy Osbourne, and Pearl Jam. In other words, all of these are mingled together, and most of the CCM music is owned and operated by secular organizations. Now, notice in 1 Timothy 6, again, I think for time's sake, we'll just read the one verse. I challenge you to read the entire chapter. But he says here in this passage, you'll notice in verse 10, He said, for the love of money is the root... What's the next word of what? The love of money is the root of what? All evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. In this same chapter, he tells you and I, in verse 6, that godliness with contentment is great gain. He tells us in verse 7 that we've brought nothing into this world and we'll carry nothing out. He said in verse 8, he said, having food and raiment, let us be there with content. This is not true in the CCM crowd. And he says in verse 9, and they that will, that is, they desire to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and a many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. I've watched wealth carry many a person away from their heart from God, first of all, then carry them from the church of Jesus Christ. And he says in verse 17, 18 and 19, he said, charge them that are rich in this world, and you can read that later and look at it, but he's talking about laying up in store a foundation in heaven. Now, turn with me please to 1 Corinthians 6. Now, let's give a definition And I'm going to give you about two other quotes here. Let's give a definition of CCM. What is it? Well, Christian rock, which really is no such thing, but I'm going to use that phrase, Christian rock is now over 30 years old. Now listen to this, it can trace its roots back to the Jesus movement of the late 60s and 70s. Brother, you and I remember this time. And the Jesus Freaks of the hippie movement, in other words, back in the 1960s and 70s, and then in the 1980s, it became an industry, and then in 1990, it became an empire. But where did it all come from? It came out of the area of Woodstock. It came, again, out of the rock and roll scene. and the Jesus movement. Now, listen to me carefully, this is proven by secular and religious writers. This new music was birthed out of rock and roll. Now, if rock and roll is satanic, then what CCM is today, it is satanic. There's no other way to look at it. Now, here's a quote. It says this, it says, of the movement were Larry Norman, Disciples, Love Song, Barry McGuire, Andre Crouch, and others, and by 1980s and 1990s, artists such as Amy Grant, D.C. Talk, and Jars of Clay. One of the first popular Jesus music albums was titled, Upon This Rock, 1969, by Larry Norman, initially released by Capitol Records. He was the man that years ago, I hope you've never seen him because you've not missed anything, but years ago I heard him say that why is it that the devil has all the good music and he's referring to rock and roll. He brought rock and roll in and he produced an album in 1969 that basically was rock and roll with Jesus' name put to it. Here's another quote. It says, the name CCM was coined to distinguish this style of music from the more traditional forms of religious music. The word contemporary has proven to be an appropriate description of this music over the last 20 years. As the styles have kept up with its secular counterpart, the ever evolving state of CCM includes such diverse and contemporary styles as rock and jazz, blues, dance, metal, rap, alternative, new age, grunge, pop, thrash, death, gothic and industrial. In other words, it includes all of this. And if you've ever listened to any of it, you know that that is true. Now, you'll notice with me as we come here, and I'm going to read in this passage, and I need one verse basically from this passage, and then we're going to turn to 2 Corinthians. Please understand that CCM is religious music with secular style. That's one good way to have a definition. It is religious music with a secular style. He says here in 1 Corinthians 5, you'll notice with me in verse 6, One verse. He said, Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Now, the passage is not talking about music. The passage is talking about sin, fornication that was in the church. But I'm going to use this because this will work with any principle. And he says, You're a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. you put a little tiny bit of leaven in the dough, and it will permeate the entire thing. And that's what CCM has done to the churches across their land. Turn to 2 Corinthians. We were in this passage this morning. Notice in 2 Corinthians 6, and I'm going to begin reading from verse 14. We're going to back up two verses from where we're at this morning. Now, two other quotes on the on the origin of CCM. And one is, it says basically, CCM is a style of music that is in contrast with what is considered traditional church music. Thus, not everything new is contemporary. Also, by this definition, most all contemporary music is not traditional. In other words, contemporary Christian music is opposed in an opposition in contrast to traditional Christian music. One other quote, and this is from Chrismant magazine, and they said, songs that were only sung in charismatic churches are now heard in mainline and non-charismatic churches. Through praise and worship, we are seeing all denominations, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics and Charismatics, come together. This music is very ecumenical. It's bringing everybody together. And I'll say something about that just a little bit more in a moment. You see, the Bible tells us in Luke 16.8, Basically, that the children of this world sometimes are wiser than we that are believers. And you need to read that. And in the same chapter in verse 15, I've quoted a number of times this summer, he said, that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. I want you to understand that this music is highly esteemed in the eyes of not only supposedly Christians, but also in the eyes of the world. Now, I'm going to be reading in 2 Corinthians 6, and it has to do with separation. By the way, just because something new does not mean it's bad. We're not saying that a new song is bad because it's new. And the same is true, just because something is old doesn't mean it's good. So, you know, somebody may write a song today. You know, a hymn. And that doesn't mean it's bad, but it's what's done with it. It's the words. It's the melody. It has to do with whether there's beat in it and a number of other things. So I think we understand that here this evening. And if you ever thought about what people are called today that are leading music in churches, what do they call worship? Have you ever really thought about that term? The worship leader movement. They're in love with the music. There is no such thing in the Bible. We'll say a little bit more about that after a while. But there's no worship leaders in the Bible. Now, you may have somebody, they may be the need of leading singing. Somebody can help lead singing, but not worship leaders. And again, when we close the message, I'm going to say something about worship. And not only that, what about the Dove Awards? What is all this about? If it's not about money, if it's not about fame, if it's not about fortune, if it's not about popularity, why is it that the Dove Awards are given out to the greatest artists? I'm telling you, this stuff is out of hell, and God is nowhere in it. It has satanic beef. And by the way, many of the words, not all of them, but many of the CCM songs, The hymns, they're very watered down and very generic. In other words, they're very vague when it comes to the teachings of the Bible. There's even false teachings in the music. I'm going to deal with some of these artists as we get toward the end of the message, if I have time. Now, you'll notice with me as we come to this passage. I'll be reading from verse 14. And keep in mind, CCM has been a topic of controversy from its beginning. It can be soft rock, hard rock, or anywhere in between. And we find here verse 14, he says in this passage, he says, "...be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous, and what communion hath light with darkness, and what concord hath Christ with Elial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Now notice verse 17, He said, Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." He said, I'm going to be a father unto you, verse 18, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Chapter 7, verse 1, it says, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit for effecting holiness in the fear of God. Now why did I read these? These are dealing with separation. Separation. Turn to James 4. I'm going to wear your Bible out in James 4 and 1 Peter 2 this year. Notice in James chapter 4. Alright, the second thing this evening. First thing is the origin of CCM. Number two, the worldliness of CCM. If you look at their lifestyle, many of them, their dress, the body piercing, the long hair on the men, if you look at the tattoos, if you consider their dance, if you consider the immorality among some of them, if you consider the covetous spirit, the greedy spirit, the divorce rate among them, the drugs, and I could go on and on with a list of things. Most of these artists are worldly. I will not say every one of them, but most of them. Now, you'll notice with me as we come to James 4, and you know where I'm going. How many have got it highlighted in your Bible? You know exactly where I'm going when I talk about the world. You can write down James 1.27 also, because he says, Keep yourself unspotted from the world. Now, rock and roll music has four themes. It has sex, drugs, the occult, and immorality. CCM, basically the same thing, because I'm saying to you that the beat is satanic, and most of these groups I listed off, they have the electric guitars, the drums, the dancers, all of this goes along, the light shows. I mean, listen, when you see their concerts, and I hope you've never been to one, basically their rock concerts, And they're performing on stage just like the rock stars. Gals or girls are screaming their lungs out at them just like they do with rock stars. There's smoke many times coming up on the stage. There's the light show that's put on. And all the glitter and all the things that go with the rock stars is sang through here. They're bobbing their heads. You've seen them. Bobblehead dolls or whatever you call them, they're all doing this right here and they're all rocking to the music and pretending that they're worshiping. The musicians have become stars. There's fan clubs. All you've got to do is look at their albums. I'm saying this stuff is wicked and it's out of hell. And Jesus Christ of the Bible, they may have a new age Jesus, but the Jesus Christ of the Bible is nowhere in this. Now, notice in James 4, reading in verse 4, He says here in this passage, talking about the world, the adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Very plain, very clear. Now, most don't know what the world is, so they can't go to this verse and really understand it. But he says that you cannot be a friend of the world and be a friend of God. It is absolutely impossible. Turn to 1 John. I'm going to wear this verse out with you this year also. And 1 John in chapter 2. And notice here. Now, there's one of the CCM stars, artists, he said this. He said homosexuality is a major problem in CCM and everybody knows it. It is amazing that the studies I've done, not just this week and this month, but over the years, is that you go back in the Southern Gospel, we're going to talk about that next week. There's a lot of homosexuality in that. But we find that there's a lot of homosexuality in the CCM. And Ray Bolts is one of them. Just about two years ago, announced that he was a sodomite. Has been for over 30 years, or at least the tendencies toward that. Divorced his wife of about 30 or 33 years. Had four children. And walked off from his wife. And he now says that he's living a normal gay life and dating and whatever. And God has forgiven him. And God loves him. And he loves God. Now that's not the same Bible I'm reading from. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it's not the same book. He was a performer. As far as a good voice and all those things, he was a performer. He sang songs. I believe one of the songs, Thank You. One of the songs is The Anchor. You know, The Anchor Holding. And one of the songs that he's forgotten about, he says, I pledge allegiance to the Lamb. Well, he's not. He does not have allegiance to the Lamb at all today. And I warned people about him 20 and 25 years ago. What's wrong with him? His music is a little different from some of these others. I said, stay away from it. One of these days you'll know. I didn't know he was a sodomite then. I just knew that this music is wrong and it's not from God. Now notice with me as we come here to 1 John, reading in chapter 2. I'm going to be reading the same verses here. I'm going to be reading three verses from this passage here. And you know that we're not to mix the holy with the unholy. Ezekiel 22-26. Phrased music today is used to control and mesmerize the people. And it's phrases that are manipulating, that are repeated over and over. and over again, putting people almost into a trance, producing feelings and emotions. And that is not worship. I'm going to say something about that in a few moments. The Bible says that we're not to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness in Jude. I believe it's verse 4. And that's exactly what's happening today. There is no separation. There's no difference. And we're not to have fellowship. One of the sisters here in the assembly just told me last Sunday that there's a church in our area that has now taken on another pastor so that one pastor, the older pastor, I guess, will do the traditional service and the younger pastor will do the contemporary service. In other words, many churches are doing this. We've got one in our area. There's others in our area. But anyway, this has just happened within the last month or so. Now, you'll notice with me, as we come to 1 John, And we're going to be reading in 1 John 2, be reading from verse 15. He 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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." Notice those verses. Very clearly, he defines the world and he says that we're not to follow the world. Where did this music come from? It came from rock and roll. What is rock and roll? Rock and roll is the world. Now, turn with me to 1 Peter. And notice with me in chapter 1. Now let me give you a few more quotes by some of the CCM artists, if you can call them that. 1 Peter 1. CCM has bridged a gap. They have bridged a gap of the sacred and the secular. And many of the CCM singers love rock and roll stars and praises them. Why? Because their beat came from them. Their music came from them. They're imitating them. Here's some quotes. Jars of Clay says that Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles are their inspiration. This is the Sunday Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana, February 8th. 1999. Amy Grant says, I love to hear Billy Joe, Kenny Logans, and the Doobie Brothers. That's time, March 11, 1985. Delirious said, their musical heroes include U2, Blur, Radiohead, and other big British modern rockers. Deliberance performs songs by secular rock groups, for example, Black Sabbath. D.C. Talks sings songs by the Doobie Brothers, the Beatles. Steve Curtis Chapman sings Lord of the Dance. A group called 77, well the 77 group is their name. They say that their musical influence are Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, Pearl Jam, and they perform Led Zeppelin's song, Nobody's Fault But Mine, on their Drawing With Land In Sight album. Holy Soldier play songs of the rolling stones. Rick Mullins, he says, John Lennon was a big hero of mine. That's his exact words. Point of Grace, this is a female group, and they said on one of the albums recorded, sing a song. They sing a song by the occultic secular group Earth, Wind and Fire. Now, notice in 1 Peter 1. Let's read from verse 14. 1 Peter 1 and verse 14. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. God wants us to be holy. And he says in verse 14, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust. Turn with me please to 1 Timothy chapter 4. Now the third and last thing that we're going to consider this evening is the fruit of CCM. I'm going to read here. I'm going to give you 2 Timothy 3, 5, where it says there that they have a form of godliness, but not according. How does that word? They have a form of godliness, but not, I'm sorry, but denying the power thereof, he said, from such turn away. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power, that is the truth of God's Word. Now, you notice in 1 Timothy chapter 4, we're going to talk about the fruit of CCM. Somebody said, well, you're not the judge. Well, we can be fruit inspectors, can't we? I don't mind you inspecting my fruit. You can tell me if I've got some bad apples I need to prune or whatever. I don't mind you doing that, amen? Alright, now the early church. Can you imagine the early church? Can you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ doing concerts. Can you imagine Him with a rock band behind Him with choirs and big bands and selling songs? Can you imagine Jesus with albums with His picture on the front of it? No. No. I mean, that's foolish to even think that away. The early church did not act like what we see today. Now, what is the fruit? Well, we see carnality. We see weakness in the church. We see ecumenicalism. We see watered-down truth through these songs. We see feminine men. We see seductive women. We see blasphemy, apostasy and false doctrine. I got a picture of the group Point of Grace, and these three gals look like they have come on stage in their nightgowns. And while they're singing about dancing and kissing your husband and doing this and doing all of that, they've got gals half naked dancing and swirling behind them while they're singing. There's no such thing as Christian rock, I'm just telling you this evening. Now, bad music invites demonic influence. Now that's just a fact. And he says here in 1 Timothy chapter 4, he says in verse 1, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. Now notice this. Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. I'm going to stop reading there. I read it to show you about the doctrines of devils and seducing spirits and lies and hypocrisy. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5. Now, earlier in the year, we spent a lot of time in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, so let's go back here and read these verses. We preached six messages in January and February on the subject of music. We covered a number of areas. Now, in the latter part of this year, we preached recently on the Beatles, and tonight we're preaching on CCM. So I want to come back to this passage. I want you to understand the purpose of music. Music is not for entertainment. If we could ever get a grip on that, and we're going to see how important that the words are and the melody, The melody has to do with the tunes, simple tunes that help the message. And I want you to see that the purpose of music is for edification. It is not for entertainment. It's not to dance to or twist around like some fool or a chicken with its head cut off on stage or whatever. You've heard me say this before, and this is another quote. It says the letters of the alphabet are neutral. But once you put them together to form sentences, you communicate. The same is true of music. Notes are neutral. Music scores are not. And many say music is neutral, and it is not neutral. Even recipes need the proper amount of ingredients in the right proportion in order to develop whatever that you're making. And let me give you something else here dealing with text painting. Years ago, They use text painting, that is, they're using music to create feelings and atmosphere. For instance, old silent movies had no words, but they were just music. And a lot of times it was organ. And that organ would create different scenes and so forth. And in other words, if music is neutral, why does Hollywood, He'll to this day spend millions of dollars on text painting. Text painting is the art of putting the right music with the right scene in a movie in order to create certain effects on the viewers. OK? If music is neutral, by the way, you can't get hooked on neutral music. If music is neutral, why is it that Hollywood hasn't figured that out and they keep spending millions and millions and millions of dollars to create moods and feelings and to create scenes. Now, notice as we come to this passage, I'm saying to you that good music is Christ-centered. And CCM is about artists, rhythm and fan clubs. Now, notice in Ephesians 5, music communicates. He said in verse 11, "...I have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Come down with me, please. Verse 18, And be not drunk with wine, where is an excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now look at this. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Music is not for entertainment. It is to communicate truth. It is to edify the saints of God. And that's what it's for. And the melody or the tune is simply there to help the message, not to dominate the message, not to override the message, but it's there to help. Now, I want to give you a couple more quotes from another author and also Martin Luther. And I'm not trying to defend Martin Luther, but I've got a reason for doing this. In the last two and a half years, no, I'm sorry, let me go back. In the last three years, twice, I had a man stand in this church and tell me that Martin Luther used barroom tunes in order to justify his secular music that he was wanting to listen to. Alright, that happened twice in the last three years. Now listen to this. Let's talk about this just for a moment. And again, I'm not trying to defend Martin Luther. But did Martin Luther use bar room beer drinking tunes in his Christian hymns? Let me give you a quote. Now listen to this. This is from another author. He said, of the melodies to Luther's 37 chorals, 15 were composed by Luther himself, Thirteen came from Latin hymns of Latin service music. Four were derived from German religious folk songs. Two had originally been religious pilgrim songs. Two are unknown origin. And one came directly from a secular folk song. This author is saying only one came from a secular song. Now, here it is. And it was not a beer-drinking tune. He said this, he said, the one secular song, I Arrived from an Alien Country, was used as the melody for the Christmas hymn, From Heaven on High I Came to You, the first stanza Luther pattern after the folk song. I have been amazed over the years. It doesn't matter where it's rock, where it's bluegrass, or southern gospel or classical music. I've been amazed over the years that the people that will push at me as a minister of God, I'm trying to help them. I'm trying to get them to stay with the Psalms and the hymns. I'm trying to get them to stay away from the secular music. And here they are, start dragging this garbage in, trying to justify the worldly music. Now listen to this. I'm asking you to turn to Colossians 3. Listen to this right here. And I get tired of listening to the garbage of carnal Christians trying to justify their junk. Now, notice, listen to this. Luther said, in his own words, I wish to compose sacred hymns so that the Word of God may dwell among the people also by means of songs. He said, who does not want to sing and speak of it shows that he does not believe it. Now notice in Colossians chapter 3, music is to be spiritual and not fleshy. Words are the most important element of the hymns. Music is to support the message, not distort it. Now notice carefully as we come to Colossians chapter 3. We read in this passage, I'm going to be reading in verse 16, one verse. He said, "...let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Spiritual music. unto the Lord and not unto men." Don't ever come and tell me you can't sing and you're not going to sing in the congregation. You're not singing for me. You're not singing for anybody else in the church. Don't tell me you're not going to sing. Sing unto the Lord. And if you quit singing, then you've quit singing to God. Amen? Amen? Amen. Notice with me in John chapter 4. In the book of John chapter 4. I have a letter here. I'm not going to read it. If you want a copy of it, I'll make you a copy. And this is the Unregistered Union of Churches in Moscow, Russia, April 15, 1992. And in this letter, basically they're saying, we have spent, let me find the exact years, it says, talking about being in prison for their faith, For some reason, I'm just scanning over it. They spent several years in prison. And now the doors are being opened up to Americans and others to come into the country. And basically, in 1992, they said, we don't want your Christian rock in our country. That's the bottom line. I'll give you a copy of this. They said, we don't want American music to infiltrate our churches And our young people, we don't want you garbage, is basically what they're saying. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Somebody had some sense there for a while, didn't they? Now, notice with me as we come to John chapter 4. We're going to wind this down. You can write down two other verses, Leviticus 10, 3, talking about strange fire that was offered by two men and God destroyed them and their families. In Genesis chapter 4, also verses 3-7, we find that God refused Cain's offering. Why? Because it wasn't according to God's plan and God's Word. Now before I read, real quickly, just a few of the articles. Carmen, he's big in the music industry, has been for years. He's got some songs. I took the words of these songs in the last two to four weeks. and looked at them in detail. But he's got one video that's actually called, Which Invitation?, and it's got all kinds of satanic symbols in the video. And he's got one song called, Holy Ghost Hop. He's got another song, Who's in the House? Well, there's many other songs, but there's this one song And I actually recorded part of it, about 30 seconds of it, and it's titled, Who's in the House? And he refers to Jesus Christ as J.C. It's a rap song. Who's in the house? J.C.' 's in the house is the way it goes. Blasphemy. Absolute blasphemy. And there's one song, and I don't know whether it's a skit or sketch before the song, that he portrays Christ and John dimwit cousins, and he says, here they are. And I think the song is actually titled, Are You the One? And he says, hey man, hey cuz, what you doing, man? I ain't seen you in a long time. Hey, baby. John calling Jesus, baby. And Jesus turns and says, hey, what's up, John? See, Jesus is always cool. He's always together. He's got his thing together, you know. Absolute blasphemy. and garbage. Petra is another group that I mentioned earlier. They recorded the song, God Gave Rock and Roll to You. Randy Matthews, a CCM artist, he opens concerts for Leonard Skinner and others. I'm talking about a wicked bunch. Amy Grant, as I've already mentioned her, left her husband and while singing the gospel music to the world and married somebody else. She's crossed over from Christian into rock, kind of in between all that. Her record company says she's given to crude and profane language, and that's the way she is. She's very frank. She said herself, I have a healthy sense of right and wrong, but sometimes, for example, using foul explanation points, point words, rather, among friends can be good for a laugh. She says, I'm a singer, not a preacher. I'm not looking to convert anybody. I feel people come to hear my music, not to hear me talk. In her video, Baby, Baby, she's a lot of flirtation and in the arms of a man. And then she said, I'm trying to look sexy to sell a record. She'd been like this for years. People said, oh, she used to be great. No, no, no, no, no. No, they've had the rock beat for a long time. Steve Camp said, I am dedicated to good music, whether it's pop, Christian gospel, R&B, blues, jazz, classical, rock or whatever. I just love good music. After cursing, after an interview, his ministry covered up by sending an apology to those who complained. I mentioned Ray Bolts. Twenty years in CCM, several gold albums, Three Dove Awards. Married 33 years. Four children. 2004, admitted to his family that he was a homosexual. And here's a quote by Ray Bolts. He said, this is the way God made me. Holy Soldier, a group of four. Freaks. Metal. Music. Toby Mack was a featured entertainer at ChristianPunks.com. This is their life. This is their music. Michael W. Smith, he says, I know if I'm too blatant about my Christianity and talk about Jesus, I won't succeed in the mainstream, but hey, I'm not an evangelist, I'm a singer. Chevrolet sponsored him in a concert, I guess so they could sell their SUVs, where tickets were $75. You had to pay $75 so you could go and worship God. Yeah. You got out louder than that here today. Point of grace, I've already mentioned them on stage and what they look like. Now, notice as we come to John chapter 4, as we wrap this up. Much more I could say this evening. Much, much more. And I could have given you clips and audio clips and I recorded some and I said, no, I'm not going to start doing that. I don't feel like it's right. You'd probably be sick if you heard the song, Who's in the House, by Carmen. You'd probably get sick just hearing that one song. It's absolutely blasphemy. Now, you'll notice with me, as we come to the last passage we're going to read this evening, would you not agree with me this evening that the word worship means to bow before, that it's associated with obedience, it's associated with fear, And it's used hundreds of times in the Scripture. A. W. Tozer said, God will not be used. True worship is not cheap entertainment. Worshipping with a wrong motive can be as deadening as worshipping the wrong God with a sincere motive. Hundreds of years down through the ages, young and old, have sang the same hymns and psalms. God gave us 150 psalms and there's been hundreds, thousands of hymns that have been written over the centuries. And the young and old sang the same. They didn't have to have children's music. We were in a home here the other night with family here and I was delighted to see two of the boys pulling hymn books off and saying, this is my favorite hymn. Why is it we think that the children has got to be entertained? They didn't have to have different songs. They learned the hymns washed in the blood, Amazing Grace, Victory in Jesus. They learned all of these. Why? Because they worshiped with the adults. There wasn't the traditional and contemporary style worship and separation. Now, let me say this before I read in John chapter 4. I believe that many times we end up worshiping. You listen to me. We end up worshiping worship. and praising praise. Now, you think about what I just said. We're in love with our music and we worship, worship and we praise, praise. Let me say this also. Worship is not a warm, fuzzy feeling. That's not worship. Now, there's nothing wrong with feeling warm and fuzzy, but that's not worship. I like feeling good, don't you? But that's not worship. And let me say one other thing before I read here. Now, this is very important. Music does not bring us into the presence of God. That is pagan thinking entering into the presence of God by emotions. And in many of these CCM concerts, You've got the hard, throbbing rock many times, and then you've got it lightened up. And then they just repeat the same thing about 875 times, you know, get into a trance. And they call it worship time, worship services with their music. And others come and worship, pay you $75 and you can worship with us in our music. And I'm saying to you that music does not bring us into the presence of God. It does not. So we need to understand that. And Jesus said in John chapter 4, now notice as we come here to a close, He said in John chapter 4, and I'm just going to come down to verse 24, you can read from verses 22 through 26. But he said, God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We're talking about spirituality and not flesh. We're talking about truth and not compromise. And this must here. He said they that worship God must worship Him. Must. It's sort of like Jesus said, Ye must be born again. No other way to get into God's kingdom unless we're born again. And the same is true. There's no way to worship God unless it is in spirit and in truth. We're not to mix the holy with the profane. Our worship is to be according to the Spirit. to be spiritual and it's to be according to the Word of God. Never drag in worldly music or satanic beat. Now, you think about this. You think about this satanic beat that was used in voodoo to conjure up the evil spirits and demons that is now being played on the stages. Churches don't need stages. They need a pulpit. That's the way they used to be. They don't need stages. Well, I'm going to stop right here. I've probably said enough. And next Sunday night, we're going to look at... I'm going to get somebody before we get through with this. We're going to look at southern gospel music. You will be shocked at some of the things that go in there. Let's stop right here.