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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to the book of Ephesians. We're in Ephesians chapter 5. 
Ephesians chapter 5. Our focus tonight will be verses 
19 to 21, but I'll read beginning in verse 1 of Ephesians 5. Therefore, be imitators of God 
as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved 
us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to 
God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness 
or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting 
for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse 
jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous 
man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of 
Christ in God. Let no one deceive you with empty 
words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the 
sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers 
with them. For you were once darkness, but 
now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for 
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, 
and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. and have 
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather 
expose them. For it is shameful even to speak 
of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things 
that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes 
manifest is light. Therefore he says, Awake, you 
who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. 
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming 
the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, 
but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be 
drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with 
the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs. singing and making melody in 
your heart to the Lord, and giving thanks always for all things 
to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting 
to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit to your own 
husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the 
wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is the 
savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church 
is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands 
in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just 
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that 
he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water 
by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, 
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she 
should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their 
own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes 
it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of 
his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason, a 
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 
and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, 
but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, 
let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, 
and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Our gracious God, we thank you 
for this letter of Paul to the church in Ephesus, and we thank 
you for its relevance and practicality for us in church today. We ask 
again that your Spirit would guide us as we consider this 
passage. We pray that we would take seriously this admonition 
to walk in wisdom, to walk in a circumspect manner, to seek 
by your grace that presence and power of the Holy Spirit so that 
we may navigate in the church and outside of the church in 
a way that is well-pleasing in your sight. Do forgive us for 
all of our sins and unrighteousness, and again, guide us by the Spirit, 
and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. So the 
doctrinal section in the book of Ephesians is in chapters 1 
and 2, chapter 3 is a bit of a transition, and then chapters 
4 to 6, the emphasis is on practical Christian living. So in 4.1, 
he tells us that we're to walk in a manner that is consistent 
with our high calling in Christ Jesus. In 4.17, he tells us we're 
not supposed to walk the way that the Gentiles walk. And then 
in chapter 5, verse 1, he says we're to walk in love. Chapter 
5, verse 8, he says we're to walk in light. And here in chapter 
5 and verse 15, he tells us we're to walk in wisdom. So that's 
the particular context we find ourselves in tonight. Notice 
specifically in Ephesians chapter 5, at verse 15. See then that 
you walk circumspectly, carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming 
the time because the days are evil. He goes on to say, therefore 
do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is. 
And the way that we understand what the will of the Lord is, 
it isn't esoteric. It isn't mysterious. It's not 
a tune out and tune in. It is rather to search the scriptures. 
We've got plenty of wisdom in the Bible communicated by the 
Spirit to us for our growth and maturation in the things of God. 
And then he gives a prohibition specifically in verse 18, and 
do not be drunk with wine. It seems a bit out of place, 
and commentators have wondered why the insertion here of this 
particular prohibition. Again, generally, there is an 
admonition. We're not supposed to be drunk 
with wine. This isn't the only place in the Bible that condemns 
drunkenness, and it's certainly one in addition to those others. 
But here I think the idea is a controlling influence. Those 
who are drunk with wine end up engaged in dissipation. The contrast 
is to be filled with the Spirit. So he says, do not be drunk with 
wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. 
And when you're filled with the Spirit, it won't be dissipation 
that results, but it will rather be these four particular things 
that the apostle mentions. Notice the instruction of others 
in 19a. Second, the praise given to God, 
19b. Third, the gratitude to God in 
verse 20. And then finally, submission 
to others in verse 21. So if we're drunk with wine, 
the net effect is dissipation. If we're filled with the Holy 
Spirit, the net effect is that we'll speak to one another in 
a particular way. We'll praise our God in our hearts. 
We will be thankful to our God, and we will submit to one another 
in the fear of the Lord. As one man says, concerning alcohol 
and the spirit, both involve the self coming under the control 
of an external power. Charles Hodge says, and as drunkenness 
produces rioting and debauchery, so the Holy Spirit produces a 
joy which expresses itself in psalms, hymns, and spiritual 
songs. And again, when we ask the question, 
what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? We've already 
been sealed by the Spirit according to Ephesians 1 at verse 13. When we come to faith in our 
Lord Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit as a seal and as a guarantee 
of our final redemption. We have the Spirit in us. Now 
when he says be filled with the Spirit, I think the idea is to 
seek more of his presence and more of his power in your life. 
Doesn't necessarily mean go speak in tongues and prophesy and raise 
dead people. It simply means to know more 
of his presence and power in your life. And then when we compare 
the parallel passage in Colossians chapter 3, you can turn there. 
I think the two statements sort of define one another. So in 
Colossians 3 we see a very similar emphasis, specifically in verse 
16. He says, Notice, teaching and 
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. So in Ephesians 
5, we're filled with the Spirit and then we teach and admonish 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Here in Colossians 3.16, 
the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly in all wisdom, it results 
in us teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs. So I think the two help us to 
understand each other. What does it mean to be filled 
with the Holy Spirit? It's to have the Word of Christ dwelling 
in our hearts. What does it mean to have the Word of Christ dwelling 
in our hearts? It means to be filled with the 
Holy Spirit. So as we come to this particular passage now, 
I want to look at the manifestation or the effects of the Spirit's 
presence in the lives of God's people. So we'll start first 
with verse 19a and the instruction of others. So notice, verse 18, 
do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be 
filled with the Spirit. How do we know somebody is filled 
with the Spirit? Because they will speak to one 
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Now, when we 
come to this particular passage, there's a lot to consider by 
way of just a general approach. In the first place, the speaking 
to one another is the horizontal aspect of Christian worship. 
I don't believe 5.19-21 is confined to corporate worship, but it 
certainly includes and involves corporate worship. So when we 
come and we open up our books of praise unto God and we sing, 
We are proclaiming God's excellencies to one another. As well, we are 
praising God, which we'll see as we move through this list 
of characteristics of those who have the Spirit, and as well, 
it is a prayer. Any good hymn, any good psalm 
is also a prayer, things that we ought to ponder as we return 
them unto God in a singing capacity. So praise, proclamation, and 
prayer is the function involved in singing. So the speaking to 
one another here in 19a is the horizontal aspect of worship. The next clause, the singing 
and making melody in your heart, is the vertical aspect of worship. So the praise and the prayer 
unto God and the proclamation as we sing good words to our 
God, but for the benefit of others. We're supposed to hear ourselves. 
In fact, speaking to yourself is the emphasis in the King James, 
but speaking to one another, these psalms, hymns, and spiritual 
songs. That's the content as to what 
is to be sung. And psalm simply means a song 
of praise, a psalm. It's used in the New Testament 
of Old Testament psalms. A hymn is a song with religious 
content, hymn or song of praise, especially in honor of a deity. And then a song, in our literature, 
this is just from a dictionary of the Greek language used in 
the New Testament, song. In our literature, only a sacred 
song, a song of praise to God. So those are the three words 
that we find here. But if you've done any study 
in scripture, and many of you have come out of churches where 
Psalms only were what's sung in public worship, you'll know 
that some apply the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs here to the 
Psalter itself. Now the first time I preached 
this passage many, many years ago, I did not do that. This 
time around, I've dug down a little bit deeper, and there is merit 
to that particular argument. That the three terms used here, 
Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, refer to the Psalms of 
David, refers to that collection of the Bible that we have right 
about in the middle, 150 of them. And I want to offer up three 
arguments as to why we should see it this way. First, the lexical 
argument, the meaning of the words used by Paul. Secondly, 
the theological argument, this inspiration. Notice when he speaks 
concerning spiritual songs. I think we just look at spiritual 
there as the type or the kind. I think the argument is better, 
it's the origin. These songs come from the Spirit. They don't come from Hillsong, 
they don't come from Isaac Watts, they don't come from William 
Cooper, they come from the Spirit Himself. And then the third argument 
will be contextual. It is intriguing that when the 
Apostle here says, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, 
the parallel is that we let the word of Christ richly dwell in 
our hearts and we speak to one another in psalms and hymns and 
spiritual songs. Well, the Psalms of David are 
excellent content for that very purpose and for that very reason. But let's first pick up on the 
lexical argument, the identification of the psalms, hymns, and spiritual 
songs. Now, as you might guess, the 
Psalter itself in Hebrew uses these three terms for itself. The superscriptions. Typically, 
it's offset in the New King James. When I read that superscription, 
that's inspired Hebrew text. That's the first verse in the 
Hebrew Bible. So, the superscriptions often 
use these terms synonymously. You've got psalm, you've got 
hymn, and you've got song or spiritual song. When you have 
the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, we call 
that the Septuagint. I had mentioned recently that 
it's also called the LXX or the 70, because tradition says it 
was 70 men that worked on that particular translation of the 
Hebrew Old Testament into a Greek version of that. Well, the same 
sort of a thing. We have the word Psalms and hymns 
and songs. And those terms in the titles 
to the various Psalms are utilized. For instance, Psalm occurs in 
the titles of 67 of the Psalms of David. Hymn occurs in the 
titles of 6 of the Psalms, and then song occurs in the titles 
of 36 of the Psalms. In our Bible, specifically Psalm 
76, the psalm that I read at the outset of worship, in the 
Septuagint, or the Greek translation, all three terms are utilized 
in that superscription. So the idea that psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs at first glance would only refer to the 
book of Psalms seems a bit odd. Well, it only seems odd if you've 
been living in the 20th century, because men prior to the 20th 
century interpreted it that way. Men prior to our particular time 
understood it that way. And I'm going to quote a couple 
of them in just a moment. But when it comes to the use 
of hymn, for instance, in the New Testament, there's a couple 
of places that we ought to be aware of. Turn to Matthew's Gospel, 
Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. I think I've explained to you 
before that in conjunction with the Passover supper, there was 
this sort of an approach to how you worshipped and how you conducted 
yourself, and there was the singing of the songs of Hallel. And basically, 
that would have been Psalms 113 to Psalm 118. So in Matthew 26 at verse 29, 
but I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine 
from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my 
father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, 
the hymn there is the songs of Halal. It's between 113 and 118. 
It wouldn't have been Hillsong. It wouldn't have been Cooper. 
It wouldn't have been Isaac Watts. It wouldn't have been Charles 
Wesley. It wouldn't have been modern 
hymnody. They would have sang what they always sang at the 
Passover meal. They would have sang the Psalms 
of David. And when Jesus co-ops this into 
the Lord's Supper, he gives that confirmation of its binding authority 
in the worship of God Almighty in this new covenant era. Turn 
over to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16, 
another use of the word hymn. Not hym-h-i-m, but hym-h-y-m-n. Notice specifically in Acts 16 
at verse 25. But at midnight, Paul and Silas 
were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were 
listening to them. Again, this wasn't stuff we have 
in the Trinity Hymnal. What do you think those men had 
in their minds that they had oftentimes used in the worship 
of God? Probably the psalms of David, 
probably those psalms that they grew up on, those psalms that 
they sang in synagogue, those psalms that they had introduced 
in the singing to churches. So when they sing Psalms or hymns 
here to God, it's referring to the Psalms of David. And then 
going back to our particular text, again, these three terms 
all refer to the book of Psalms. John Gill makes this observation. He says, by Psalms are meant 
the Psalms of David and others which compose the book that goes 
by that name. Everybody agrees David didn't 
write all of the Psalms. but we refer to them as the Psalms 
of David because he's sort of the man to make sure that everything 
that went in there was orthodox and was God-honoring and was 
theologically sound. Just like in the New Testament, 
not every man that wrote a New Testament book is an apostle, 
but they were apostolic men. They were under the control of 
those apostles so that when Mark and Luke write and they contribute 
canonical writings to the New Testament, they're not doing 
it willy-nilly, they're doing it under the supervision of Paul 
in the case of Mark, or Luke rather, and Peter in the case 
of Mark. So these non-apostolic men are 
nevertheless apostolic men. So the sons of Korah and Ethan 
and the various men that compose Psalms, they're under ultimately 
the control of David. And I don't mean control the 
way a tyrant controls, but he is the man that introduced, or 
rather the man that secured what went into the book of Psalms. 
So Gill again, he says, For other psalms there are none, and by 
hymns we are to understand, not such as are made by good men, 
without the inspiration of the Spirit of God, since they are 
placed between psalms and spiritual songs, made by men, inspired 
by the Holy Ghost, and are put upon a level with them, and to 
be sung along with them, to the edification of churches. But 
these are only another name for the Book of Psalms, the running 
title of which may as well be the Book of Hymns. Thomas Manton 
says the same thing. He says, the learned observe, 
these are the express titles of David's Psalms, Mizmorim, 
which is the Hebrew word, Tehillim, and Shirim, which the Septuagint 
translates Psalmoi, Humnoi, and Odi, or Ode, that's where we 
get our English word, Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and 
seem to recommend to us the book of David's Psalms. Now, there 
was something called the Scottish Book of Psalms, the Scottish 
Psalter, which is a metrical version of the Psalms. It's still 
available, Trinitarian Bible Society. You get a nice little 
hardback one. Well, in the original, or rather 
in this one that was published in 1673, I think it first came 
out in 1650, and then there were other editions that followed. 
But in the 1673 one, Malcolm Watts makes this observation. 
He says a Puritan preface was included in an edition of the 
Scottish Metrical Psalter published in 1673. It was signed by Thomas 
Manton, John Owen, William Jenkin, Thomas Watson, Thomas Lou, Matthew 
Poole, Matthew Mead, Thomas Vincent, Edmund Kellamy, James Janeway, 
Richard Mayo, and 16 others. I'm not saying this because, 
oh, we should just join their team. I'm simply suggesting that 
prior to the 20th century, it was pretty commonplace that psalms, 
hymns, and spiritual songs referred to the book called the Psalms 
of David. But then he goes on to say, these 
Puritans all subscribe to these words, quote, To us, David's 
psalms seem plainly intended by those terms of psalms and 
hymns and spiritual songs, which the apostle uses in Ephesians 
5.19 and Colossians 3.16. Now there will be some that say, 
well isn't that all just saying sing psalms and psalms and psalms? 
But that's what the Bible does in a lot of places. We just read 
it in Deuteronomy chapter 11. We're to obey God's commandments. We're to obey God's statutes. 
We're to obey God's laws. What's the difference? Well, 
they all refer to that mandate from God that we're supposed 
to imbibe. Oftentimes the Old Testament, 
and perhaps in the New Testament, I can't think of a place right 
now, but it talks about our sin and our iniquity and our transgression. Huh, kind of like three terms 
that emphasize the same specific thing. And then you have it very 
clearly in the New Testament when you see these references 
to miracles, wonders, and signs in Acts 2.22, and then again 
in 2 Corinthians 12.12, and Hebrews 2.4. So that there are three 
terms applying to the one book, it's not uncommon. It's not strange. It's something that that book 
does itself in the Hebrew language. It's something that that book 
does itself when it's translated into Greek and we call it the 
Septuagint. Those three terms are applied 
to the Psalms of David. Now with reference to this, the 
apostle assumes that the church in Ephesus and the church in 
Colossae had at their disposal a collection of Psalms, hymns, 
and spiritual songs. Remember, these churches were 
relatively new. Paul probably writes Ephesians 
around AD 60 to 62. So the Christian church, now 
I would date it back to Abel as being the first justified 
by God's grace through faith. Even Adam and Eve, God took the 
animal and killed it and took the skin and covered and atoned 
for the sins of Adam and Eve. So I'm not suggesting the church 
just emerged in the new covenant. There is that church of God's 
faithful people. But in terms of the establishment 
formally of local churches, At the resurrection of Jesus, we 
have his marching orders to go therefore and make disciples 
of all the nations, baptize those disciples, and then teach those 
disciples. Guess where all that happens? It happens in the church. You make the disciples, you baptize 
the disciples, and then you teach the disciples. So you've got 
about a 30-year span there before the Apostle Paul writes Ephesians. Well, he assumes, again, that 
this somewhat relatively new body of people, this somewhat 
relatively new body of believers, has at their disposal a book 
through which or with which they're able to sing psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs. And then turn back to Ephesians 
4, specifically at verse 11. It's intriguing. Now, the argument 
could be made, well, he's only talking about the teaching office 
here. But singing is teaching. Singing truth is teaching and 
admonishing one another. Notice in Ephesians 4, verse 
11. We've already considered this 
passage. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, 
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. for the equipping 
of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of 
the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to 
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The 
church, I mean, we use the language of, well, he's a youth pastor, 
he's an executive pastor, he's the lead pastor. That's not how 
the Bible talks. The Bible just says pastor. or 
elder, or bishop. Those are synonymous terms for 
the one office that has as its function ruling and teaching 
and preaching. So the Bible as well doesn't 
have, you know, pastor of music, pastor of composition, pastor 
that composes the odes that the church is going to sing. When 
Christ ascends on high, when Christ leads captivity captive, 
when Christ gives gifts to the church, those gifts are charged 
with preaching and teaching His Word, not composing songs, not 
engaging in new spiritual ditties to celebrate the glory of God 
Most High. So that's the lexical argument. 
The three terms in Hebrew refer to the Psalter. The three terms 
in Greek refer to the Psalter. The second argument is theological. 
Look back at the text, specifically in 519. It says, speaking to 
one another in psalms and hymns, and notice that word, spiritual 
songs. Now, the word spiritual modifies 
songs, but it could modify psalms and hymns as well. That is a 
perfectly legitimate way to translate. We could understand spiritual 
psalms, spiritual hymns, or spiritual songs, or and spiritual songs. 
The modifier spiritual, again, doesn't set it apart from a tune 
that you might sing at the bar. Rather, it indicates or underscores 
the origin of that particular composition. In other words, 
it is given by the spirit. It does not refer to the type 
of the song, but rather to the origin of the song. And if we 
ask the lexicon, which is simply the big word for dictionary, 
I guess it's not any bigger than dictionary, when we ask what 
does the word spiritual mean, here's what BDAG says. in the 
great majority of cases in reference to the Divine Spirit, having 
to do with the Divine Spirit, caused by or filled with the 
Divine Spirit, pertaining or corresponding to the Divine Spirit. So the spiritual songs there, 
again, doesn't just set that song off from a nursery rhyme. It rather underscores the origin 
of that song. In fact, B.B. Warfield explains 
it this way. He says, of the 25 instances 
in which the word occurs in the New Testament, in no single case 
does it sink even as low in its reference as the human spirit. 
And in 24 of them is derived from Pneuma or the Holy Spirit. in this sense of belonging to 
or determined by the Holy Spirit. Listen to that language, brethren. 
If you've ever read this and you thought spiritual songs, 
well, you know, that's Rich Mullins or that's Keith Green. Those 
aren't nursery rhymes. It's not Led Zeppelin. It's not 
Metallica. There's something about that spiritual song. It's 
just different. It's in a different class. It's 
a different kind. It's a different category. That's not Paul's point. Spiritual songs originate from 
the Spirit. Spiritual songs come from the 
Spirit. Now, wouldn't it be wonderful 
if we had a book that contained those spiritual songs that came 
from the Spirit? We actually do. It's called the 
Psalms of David. So back to Warfield, in this 
sense of belonging to or determined by the Holy Spirit, the New Testament 
usage is uniform with one single exception of Ephesians 6.12, 
where it seems to refer to the higher, those superhuman intelligences. He says the appropriate translation 
for it in each case is spirit given or spirit led or spirit 
determined. So again, the lexical argument, 
all three terms used in Hebrew and used in Greek apply to the 
Psalms of David. But this theological argument 
is weighty. This theological argument is 
powerful. These are songs that come from 
the Holy Spirit himself. John Gill says, and by spiritual 
songs are meant the same Psalms of David, and which are called 
spiritual because they are indicted, and that simply means to compose 
or write by the Spirit of God. They consist of spiritual matter 
and are designed for spiritual edification. and are opposed 
to all profane, loose, and wanton songs." So he does make a distinction 
in terms of class or category or type. They're not bar songs. 
They're not nursery rhymes. Again, it's not Zeppelin or Metallica. So he makes that distinction, 
but the emphasis lies on the origin of the Spirit. These songs 
come from the Spirit of God. These songs are authorized by 
the Spirit of God for use in the churches, and that, I think, 
is the meaning here. And then one other place where 
we see this word Psalm used is in 1 Corinthians 14. We should 
make sure we observe that. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, specifically at verse 26. It 
says, how is it then, brethren, whenever you come together, each 
of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, 
has an interpretation. So it just sort of sounds like 
the people of God show up and somebody has a psalm, somebody 
has a tongue, somebody has a prophesying, and they all just sort of let 
flow in the context of the church. Well, the psalm there could be 
the psalms of David. The people of God, even in Corinth, 
would have been exposed to this altar. They would have been exposed 
to the Old Testament. They would have had that authorized 
book of God in the psalms for them to sing. But as well, look 
at the context. The spiritual gifts, the charismatic 
gifts, are off the charts there in Corinth. And just like we'd 
want to minimize somebody in our church talking in tongues 
or sharing a prophecy or giving us some insight into the mind 
of the Lord, so we ought to be cautious about somebody just 
composing together a psalm and sharing it in the corporate worship. John Cotton made the observation 
the gift of Psalms, which the Apostle speaks of, was not an 
ordinary gift to compile some spiritual ditty in verse, but 
extraordinary as joined with the gift of strange tongues. 
I don't know that we'd want to go to 1 Corinthians 14.26 as 
our proof text for uninspired hymnody, because that's not what's 
happening. Likely, they would have had the 
Psalms of David, but even possibly, they would have had direct influence 
by the Spirit. Again, Malcolm Watts makes the 
observation, 1 Corinthians 14.26 must refer to the canonical Psalms 
or to the supernatural and immediate products of the Spirit's working. Either way, it provides no warrant 
for the introduction of uninspired hymns. So what's going on in 
1 Corinthians 14, 26 isn't the proof text as to why we can all 
just break out in any old song that we want. And then the third 
aspect in terms of argument is the contextual argument. Go back 
to 5.19. 518, but be filled with the Spirit. And one of the effects of having 
been filled with the Spirit is to speak to one another in psalms 
and hymns and spiritual songs. The speaking is designed to instruct 
and edify the people of God. Well, what better content to 
instruct and edify the people of God than the Word of God? And that's why when you compare 
Colossians 3, a very similar structure, only in 5.19 we've 
got, or 5.18, be filled with the Spirit and speak this way 
to your fellows. In Colossians 3.16, we have let 
the Word of Christ richly dwell in you and speak this way to 
your fellows in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. The speaking 
is derived from the divinely inspired Word of God. Like I 
said in 5.17, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what 
the will of the Lord is. The Old Testament is the will 
of the Lord in this context. The New Testament wasn't finished 
at this point. So when Paul says, understand 
what the will of the Lord is, that would have sent them back 
to their Bibles. It would have sent them back to the Old Testament. 
In particular, it would have probably sent them back to Proverbs, 
because Proverbs is all about wisdom. It's all about Christ's 
school of wisdom and how we're supposed to navigate in this 
present evil age as blood-bought, spirit-filled children of God. 
The Book of Proverbs provides for us a great framework or context 
for this understanding what the will of the Lord is. I don't 
think it's out of the ordinary to suggest that the Psalms and 
the hymns and the spiritual songs that are in fact the Psalms of 
David furnish the stuff by which we teach and admonish one another, 
by which we edify the saints as we sing praises to God. Yes, 
praise and prayer, but proclamation in terms of the horizontal emphasis 
of those who are filled with the Spirit and they are singing. 
They are doing this in the context of public worship with that divinely 
authorized Word of God as the subject matter that does get 
into the hearts and the minds of God's people. We're singing 
the Word of God. We're singing the Scriptures 
back to God, just as He has furnished us with a book specifically devoted 
to wisdom, so He has furnished us with a book specifically devoted 
to praise, to prayer, and to proclamation. So, three simple 
arguments that I think bear up under the rest of scripture to 
indicate that when Paul says psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs, it's not a bad interpretation or take to understand him to 
mean Psalm 1 to 150 is the subject matter for praise in the churches 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the first effect. Notice 
the second, and this will be shorter because there's not arguments 
to make here. Notice, praise given to God. 
So if horizontally we're speaking to one another in Psalms, hymns, 
and spiritual songs, what's happening internally with reference to 
God Most High? See, when we come to worship, 
there's a couple of levels we need to consider. The vertical, 
we come to God, but the horizontal, we edify one another. I mean, 
it's not for naught that the church is the church, that it's 
a community. Yahweh loves the gates of Zion 
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob, Psalm 87. The Lord 
God loves to see his people gathered together corporately. So when 
we gather together corporately and we're speaking to one another 
in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, we're also singing and 
making melody in our hearts to God the Lord. You don't have 
to try to figure this all out. Just sing and praise God and 
let the spirit of God take it from there. You edify the saints, 
you worship and praise God. But notice the apostles high 
Christology here in 519, speaking to one another in psalms and 
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart 
to the Lord. Singing and making melody in 
your heart to the Lord. This is Jesus Christ. This is 
the Word who became flesh for us men and for our salvation. 
And notice, those filled with the Spirit will praise the Lord 
Jesus and will express thanks to God Most High. Turn back to 
2, 18 and 22 to see that our worship is Trinitarian through 
and through. 218, for through Him, Christ, 
we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit to the Father. We come through the mediation 
of the Lord Christ, we come in the presence and the power of 
the Spirit, and we go to the Father. And then notice in verse 
22, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling 
place of God in the Spirit. So we are being built together 
in Christ for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So it shouldn't 
surprise us to see this heavy emphasis on triunity here in 
Ephesians 5. We're filled with the Spirit 
and that results in us in singing and making melody to God the 
Son. And then it expresses itself in our gratitude and thankfulness 
to God the Father. Christian worship is Trinitarian 
worship. This isn't just a one-off. The 
Trinity is everywhere in the Bible. And for us not to see 
that, and not to appreciate that, and not to incorporate it in 
Christian worship, it is not good. We should be markedly different 
than a Jewish synagogue. We should be markedly different 
from a Unitarian Church. We should be markedly different 
from anybody who denies the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. We need 
to imbibe that, we need to appreciate that, that that's what Paul is 
saying. So he is saying that the singing of Psalms praises 
God the Son. And as we saw last Sunday night 
in our study in Psalm 22, to say that Jesus isn't in the Psalms 
is absolutely incorrect. It is positively wrong. Jesus 
in Psalm 22 tells us more about his time on the cross than Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John do. That's not to castigate Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John. But it is to suggest that from 
the lens of Psalm 22, when we move up to Matthew chapter 27, 
we know that Christ is there according to his humanity, bearing 
the wrath and fury of God Almighty and encountering the beasts that 
are encircling him to destroy and devour him. The Psalms give 
us much of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the third effect with 
reference to being filled with the Spirit. He goes on to say, 
verse 20, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father 
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, filled with the 
Spirit, giving thanks to God the Father in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Thankfulness is a constant refrain 
throughout scripture. Thankfulness is obvious in the 
Psalms. Thankfulness is obvious in the 
New Testament epistles. Thankfulness is a frequent theme 
with the Apostle Paul. It's almost as if he is sort 
of foreshadowing that threefold division in the Heidelberg Catechism. 
Guilt, grace, and then what? Gratitude. Gratitude is the expression 
of praise and thanksgiving on the part of God's conquered people 
to our Most High for what He has done in the salvation of 
our hell-deserving souls. And then the final emphasis or 
the final effect or manifestation of the presence power in the 
lives of God's people is the way that they'll relate to one 
another. Notice, submitting to one another in the fear of God. submitting to one another in 
the fear of God. I think what he means there is 
that we conduct ourselves in a manner that is consistent with 
Christianity. In Proverbs chapter 6, we read, 
there are six things that Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination 
to him. And one of them is the feat that 
sowed discord among the brethren. That discord is combated here 
by the apostle when he says, submitting to one another in 
the fear of God. Turn back to Ephesians 4, specifically 
at verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of 
the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which 
you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, 
bearing with one another in love." Now notice, endeavoring to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There's one body 
and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. 
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who 
is above all and through all and in you all. Notice that, 
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
peace. Well, how do we do that? Well, according to verse 21 in 
chapter 5, we submit to one another in the fear of God. In other 
words, you're not the star of the show. This isn't a church 
that exists for your aggrandizement or your glory. It exists for 
the glory of God Almighty. It exists for the praise and 
honor of the Most High. And submitting to one another 
in the fear of God is just that posture of Christian endeavor 
wherein we treat one another with respect and as fellow heirs 
of the grace of life that Jesus has given to us. Now, 521 serves 
as a transition to 522 that ends in 530, well, actually 6-9. So he moves now to what we call 
the household code. So he gives this generic statement 
in verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God. But 
then he gives concrete, obvious illustrations of this in practical 
daily living. So from 522 to 533, he deals 
with the husband and wife relationship. So generally, we submit to one 
another in the fear of God, but specifically in the home, the 
wife is to be submissive to her husband. And God willing, we'll 
follow this out in the next couple of Sunday nights. And then notice 
he moves from there to the parent-child relationship. So again, the generic 
or general principle, submitting to one another in the fear of 
God, is applied concretely in each of these household relations. 
So with reference to children and parents, there is a submission 
and there is this sort of emphasis on the fear of God behind it. 
And then from chapter 6, 5 to 9, you've got employees and employers. So this principle of submitting 
to one another in the fear of God isn't abstract, it's not 
just out there, but it affects us where we live here. And notice, 
just by way of a quick observation, that it's the Spirit's presence 
in our lives that helps us to facilitate compliance with what 
we find in Ephesians 5, 22 to 33. In other words, if your marriage 
is a bit on the rocks, Pray to God for more presence and power 
of the Holy Spirit. If you're having trouble communicating, 
get on your knees together, hold hands, and seek God Most High 
for the provision of His Spirit. If you're having trouble with 
your child, he's a bit wayward or she's a bit off right now, 
pray to God for more of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. 
It's an amazing thing that very little do we do this. Very little 
do we reflect upon this resource and provision that God supplies 
so that we can engage in this submitting to one another in 
the fear of God. The Lord has provided us with 
the resources necessary to comply with His holy word. So that's 
the exposition. Just a couple of quick thoughts 
and then we'll conclude. First, well, this isn't on my 
notes, but first, after we finish Ephesians, we're going to spend 
some extended time on matters pertaining to worship. So, I'm 
not sure how much longer we're going to be in Ephesians. I don't 
want to disrupt this study because I think the practicality in the 
next two chapters are necessary sort of emphases for us in our 
present evil age, but I certainly want to deal with some matters 
of worship. Certainly, Psalms and singing, and corporate worship, 
and regulative principle, and Lord's Supper, and just a whole 
host of fun things. So pray that in the coming months, 
coming weeks and months, we'll be able to get some better insight 
as we try, by God's grace, to regulate our church more closely 
to Holy Scripture. Now, having said that, the emphasis 
in our passage is on the necessity of wisdom. We're to walk in love, 
5.1. We're to walk in light, 5.8. We're to walk in wisdom, 
5.15. if we're not understanding what the will of the Lord is 
by a search of Holy Scripture. And for us, this means obviously 
the Old Testament and the book of Proverbs, but it means the 
New Testament as well. How do we discern what the will 
of the Lord is? By searching the Scriptures. What's going 
to help us to navigate circumspectly in this present evil age? It's 
going to be the wisdom that God's Holy Word affords to us so that 
we know how to conduct ourselves. As well, we need to call upon 
God for the power of the Holy Spirit who promotes wisdom, and 
His indwelling in the people of God results in some practical 
application of that wisdom. in the way that they speak to 
one another, in the way that they sing and praise God, in 
the way that they express gratitude to God, and in the way that they 
submit to one another in the fear of God. As well, the singing 
of psalms in public worship. We're not going to make a decision 
tonight, you know, pick up your psalm book and tear out everything 
from 151 and following. The hope and the prayer is that 
you'll love to sing the psalms. love to sing the Psalms. They're Christocentric. They're 
about the themes of God's grace, redemption, power, vindication, 
glory. The Psalms take us through the 
whole gamut of human experience. One of the problems with modern 
hymnody is there is no imprecatory hymn. You've got a clear demarcation 
between the righteous and the godless in the book of Psalms. 
And the psalmist isn't afraid to sing about it. As well, lament. You get good books. You get the 
odd psalm or hymn written today that takes you a bit on that 
path of how difficult it is at times to be God's people. But 
not to the depth that David brings you. Why are you cast down, O 
my soul? Hope thou in God. See, we're 
just not that honest to admit that I'm down, I'm low. Now, 
hopefully you have a friend group with which or a family group 
that you're able to share that sort of thing. But typically 
in our prayer meetings, when anybody, you know, I asked, does 
anybody have a prayer request? I am so down in the depths. I 
am so much in despair. If anybody ever does that, I'd 
like to try to assure you we have a safe place here. I'm not 
trying to use weird words here, but we're not going to expose 
you or Facebook it or anything like that. The experience of 
God's people is, why aren't thou discontents? Oh my soul. Why 
are you downcast? Oh my soul. So the Psalms of 
imprecation, absolutely crucial. The psalms of lament, absolutely 
crucial. The psalms of praise. The psalms 
rehearsing God's glory and His majesty and His power. The psalms 
rehearsing His great deliverance of Israel out of the bondage 
of Egypt. Again, just read through the 
psalms. That's the best commendation 
to singing the psalms in public worship. And then the final emphasis 
that I want to draw out of this in terms of a practical application 
is for any and all who are not saved. You're not saved by your 
works. You're not saved by your doings. You're saved by God's grace. The emphasis is strong in the 
doctrinal portion of the book of Ephesians. It isn't our righteousness. It isn't our lawfulness. It isn't 
our merit that brought us to this place where we worship God 
in spirit and truth. It's His grace, it's His mercy, 
it's His loving-kindness, and He abounds in it. In Ephesians 
chapter 1 at verse 7, He says, "...in whom we have redemption 
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins," and then He says, "...according 
to the riches of His grace." There is riches of grace in God. So if you are not a believer, 
my encouragement to you tonight is to believe, to look onto him 
in faith and receive the blessings that Christ has secured. Paul 
celebrates those in Ephesians 1, 3. He says, blessed be the 
God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with 
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul 
was a sinner. Paul was the chief of sinner. 
And yet he's able to revel in the gift of God's grace, in the 
gift of justification by faith alone, sanctification and glorification. Same with any of us that are 
here. We're not heaven bound because we made a decision. We're 
not heaven bound because we reformed our lives. We're not heaven bound 
because we stopped doing those bad things. We're heaven bound 
because from heaven, he came and sought us. The Lord Christ 
took on our humanity, lived for us, died for us, and was raised 
again for us. And the Bible is very clear. 
Those who look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your glory 
and for your majesty. We thank you for the nature of 
Christian worship being Trinitarian. We're filled with the Spirit. 
We praise God the Son. We thank God the Father through 
the Son. It is a wonderful and a glorious 
blessing that we receive each and every time that we gather 
together corporately. Go with us now, grant us grace 
to walk circumspectly, grant us grace to walk in love and 
to walk in light and to bring glory to you. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.