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welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God on this Lord's day you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 76 for our call to worship Psalm 76 and I'll begin reading in verse one to the Chief musician on stringed instruments a Psalm of Asaf a song in Judah God is known his name is great in Israel in Salem also is his Tabernacle and his Dwelling Place in Zion there he broke the arrows of the bow the shield and sword of battle se la you are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey the stouthearted were plundered they have sunk into their sleep and none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands at your rebuke oh god of Jacob both The Chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep you yourself are to be feared and who may stand in your presence when once you are angry you caused judgment to be heard from Heaven the Earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment to deliver all the oppressed of the earth say law surely the wrath of men shall praise you with the remainder of Wrath you shall G yourself make vows to the Lord your God and pay them let all who are around him bring presence to him who ought to be feared he shall cut off the spirit of princes he is awesome to the kings of the earth amen we'll turn in your hym books to Psalm 24 Psalm 24b as in bravo we'll stand as we sing [Music] together Earth the [Music] world [Music] his his [Music] all are [Music] your glor [Music] ENT glor Mighty of the [Music] is glor to of glor oh [Music] Glory well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we thank you for this Lord's day we thank you for the privilege to gather again this evening we ask that you would bend your ear toward us as we sing sing as we praise as we call upon you in prayer and as we look to Holy scripture we pray that your spirit would be present Among Us that we would approach you with that reverence and that awe that is fitting and appropriate for such a great and glorious God as the prophet asked who would not fear thee Oh King of the Nations for indeed it is thy due but we know because of sin and rebellion and transgression there is none who fears you a right so we thank you for that amazing grace that taught our hearts to fear we thank you for the blessedness that you have demonstrated in the salvation of our hell deserving Souls we thank you for so great a Salvation and for the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf we praise you that through his blood we have forgiveness of sins and that as a result of his life of perfect obedience we now are clothed in that righteousness wherein we are accepted in the Beloved so God we give all glory and praise and honor to you father Son and Holy Spirit for this wonderful blessing that you have conveyed upon us we ask tonight that you would just steady our hearts and our minds that we would be still and know that you are God that we would have that confident expectation that you will be exalted among the Nations and in the earth and that we would know of a truth that the Lord most high Reigns and rules over all things for his own Glory we ask now that you would forgive us for our sin and unrighteousness the Apostle tells us to let our conduct be worthy of the Gospel yet we can confess in so many ways we are prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love so Lord cleanse us now from that remaining corruption wash Us in that that that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and may we indeed confess with the the church at large that we believe in the Forgiveness of sins as well we pray for any and all who are here tonight that are still dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that your Holy Spirit would awaken them would show them that sin and would show them the Savior that has come come to redeem men women boys and girls and that by grace alone through faith alone Sinners have everlasting life and father we pray that you would just look with favor upon the spiritual needs here but as well upon the temporal there are many Among Us that are not well physically we just commend them to you into the word of your grace and pray that you would uphold each and everyone you would bless them that they would know the the the The Nearness of God as their good and they would be encouraged even in the midst of Affliction and hardship and difficulty we pray for your blessing upon other churches in our community we thank you that we're not alone here in this city we pray for those preaching the gospel and truth that you would bless and prosper them and throughout this nation Lord God we pray for the proclamation of of Christ and him crucified and resurrected we pray that many in this dark land would come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and we do pray that you'd put the fear of God in the hearts of those in high places we certainly live in a land that is filled with lawlessness and and Rebellion against God Almighty and against your holy law we see the Commandment says do not murder yet we see abortion and euth in Asia all manner of lawlessness at this particular place or in this particular place as well we see the the condemnation of sexual perversion and yet we see that openly encouraged and and celebrated in this body politic so God we pray that in your wrath you would remember Mercy would restrain these lawmakers from vess and and Corruption we pray that the church would be able to lead a Peaceable and a quiet life in all godliness here in this land and we pray that you would be glorified in in your churches and as well God we pray for the the cause of Christ throughout this Earth we thank you that we do enjoy Liberty we thank you that we have many blessings and we are mindful that many in other parts of the world don't have that so for those persecuted for the cause of Jesus Christ we pray that you would bless them and help them in the midst of these hardships to continue to persevere to shine as lights in that crooked and perverse generation and may they have that courage and boldness to hold forth your word of Truth and God be glorified through the suffering of your Saints and may it be the case that your church would grow even in those lands that are trying to exterminate it we pray that there would be many preached to and many by grace that would believe on that gospel and many added to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ do this great and glorious work for your name's sake and be merciful in particular to that land of Myanmar we pray for Peter we pray for all the brothers and the sisters on the ground there we pray for that Orange Grove that you would continue to afford protection to them and Lord bless the supply chains may they get the food and the the things that they need to sustain physical life and God just continue to watch over and bless them and we pray for a ceasefire in that part of the world we pray the same for the Middle East and for the Ukraine God we just praise you that there is a day coming when the Nations will learn war no more we long for that Eternal state where the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is in the presence of God most high forever and ever World Without End until that day comes we pray that You' Find Us Faithful and grant us the grace to persevere in the midst of these things and we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well you can turn again in your hym books to number uh 378 number 378 we'll stand as we sing [Music] together the creat Victorious BR to him shallow [Music] him Jesus in the SE of the W of Heaven the [Music] K the savior sa [Music] angels [Music] highest [Music] Jo and well please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy for our scripture reading this evening Deuteronomy chap 11 Deuteronomy 11 we'll begin reading in verse 1 therefore you shall love the Lord your God and keep his charge his statutes his judgments and his Commandments always know today that I do not speak with your children who have not known and have and who have not seen the chastening of the Lord your God his greatness and his mighty hand and his outstretched arm his signs and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to all his land what he did to the army of Egypt to their horses and their chariots how he made the Waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day what he did for you in the wilderness and until you came to this place and what he did to Dayan and to Byam the sons of eliab the son of Reuben how the Earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up their households their tents and all their substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel but your eyes have seen every great Act of the Lord which he did therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers to them and their descendants a land flowing with milk and honey for the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come where you SED your seed and watered it by foot as a vegetable garden but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of Hills and Valleys which drinks water from the rain of Heaven A Land for which the Lord your God cares the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it from the beginning beginning of the year to the very end of the year and it shall be that if you earnestly obey my Commandments which I command you today to love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul then I will give you the rain for your land and its season the early rain and the latter rain that you may Gather in your grain your new wine and your oil and I will send grass in your fields for your livestock that you may eat and be filled take heed to yourselves lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you and he shut up the Heavens so that there be no rain and the land yield no produce and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul and bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes you shall teach them to your children speaking of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your Gates that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them like the days of the heavens above the Earth for if you carefully keep all these Commandments which I command you to do to love the Lord your God to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you and you will dispossess greater and mightier Nations than yourselves every place on which the soul of your foot Treads shall be yours from the Wilderness and Lebanon from the river the river Euphrates even to the Western sea shall be your territory no man shall be able to stand against you the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread just as he has said to you behold I set before you today a blessing and a curse the blessing if you obey the Commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today and the curse if you do not obey the Commandments of the Lord your God but turn aside from the way which I command you today to go after other gods which you have not known now it shall be when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess that you shall put a that you shall put the blessing on Mount gazim and the curse on Mount ebal are they not on the other side of the Jordan toward the setting son in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite gilgal beside the terban Trees of moray for you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God has giving you and you will possess it and dwell in it and you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today amen well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this emphasis here on the plains of Moab for the children children of Israel to obey when they get into the land we know of course that they do not we know that of course they are exiled we know that this was a tutor a pedagogue to point them to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who would save his people from their sins we thank you that we live in that New Covenant era we thank you that we have seen the the the demonstration of your grace and your power and your mercy in redeeming us from our sins through the crosswork of our Lord Jesus and God again we pray for the faithful Proclamation of this truth throughout all the Earth that many would come to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen well you can turn with me again to uh Psalm 119 Psalm 119 M as in Mike Psalm 119 Mike Will Stand uh and sing together [Music] holy your word for for with me Lord for for for [Music] allies for desire to follow all your [Music] word all [Music] your your [Music] myet is through your I will understand [Music] 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 one of 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 idolator 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 fruitful 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 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 does or 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 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 two chapter 3 is a bit of a transition and then chapters 4 to six the emphasis is on practical Christian Living so in four1 he tells us that we're to walk in a manner that is consistent with our high calling in Christ Christ Jesus in 417 he tells us we're not supposed to walk the way that the Gentiles walk and then in chapter 5 at verse one he says we're to walk in love chapter 5:8 he says we're to walk in light and here in chapter 5 and verse1 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 apost 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 one so if we're drunk with wine the net effect is dissipation if we're filled with the Holy Spirit the net effect is 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 hodj 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 the the 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 is 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 EMP emphasis specifically in verse 16 he says let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom 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 H hymns and spiritual songs so I think the two help us to understand each other what does it mean to be filled with 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 being uh 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 uh the instruction of others so notice verse 18 do not be drunk with wine and which is dissipation but be filled with the spirit how do we know somebody is filled with 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 519 to 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 under God in a singing capacity so praise Proclamation and prayer is the function been 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 PS psms 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 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 sung in public worship you'll know that some apply the Psalms hymns and spiritual songs here to the Salter itself and the first time I preached this passage many many years ago I did not do that this time around I've uh 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 that 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 uh speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs having been uh 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 Salter itself in Hebrew uses these three terms for it self the superscriptions typically it's offset in the new King James when I read that super scription that's inspired Hebrew text that's the first verse in the Hebrew Bible so the superscripts 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 is 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 six 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 septu agent 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 him for instance in the New Testament there's a couple 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 worshiped and how you conducted yourself and there was the singing of the songs of halel 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 John uh Charles Wesley it wouldn't have been modern enity they would have sang what they always sang at the Passover meal they would have sang the Psalms of David and when Jesus co-opts 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 him not him hi M but him H ymn 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 them again this wasn't stuff we have in the Trinity Himel what do you think those men had in their minds that they had often times Ed in the worship of God probably the Psalms of David probably those psalms that they grew up on those those psalms that they sang in synagogue those psalms that they had introduced in the singing to churches so when they sing Psalms and or or hyms 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 Gil makes this observation he says by Psalms are meant the Psalms of David and others which compos 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 as an apostle but they were Apostolic men they were under the 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 uh Peter in the case of Mark so these non- Apostolic men are nevertheless Apostolic men so the sons of Kora and Ethan and the various men that compose Psalms they're un under ultimately the control of David and I don't mean control the way a tyrant controls but he is the the man that introduced or rather the man that secured what went into the book of Psalms so Gil 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 Manon says the same thing he says the learn and observe these are the express titles of David's Psalms M morim which is the uh the Hebrew word talim and sheram which the septu agent translates somoy humnoy 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 psalms now there was something called the Scottish uh uh Book of Psalms the Scottish Salter 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 additions that followed the but in the 16731 Malcolm Watts makes this observation he says a Puritan preface was included in an addition of the Scottish metrical Salter published in 1673 it was signed by Thomas Manton John Owen William Jenkin Thomas Watson Thomas Lou Matthew P Matthew me Thomas Vincent Edmund Kelly James Jane way 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 say some that say well then that Paul just saying sing Psalms and Psalms and Psalms but that's what the Bible does in a lot of places we we just read it in Deuteronomy 11 we to obey God's Commandments we to obey God's statutes or to obey God's laws what's the difference well they all refer to that mandate from God that we're supposed to IDE often times 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 222 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 septu AET 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 colasse had at their disposal a collection of Psalms hymns and spiritual songs remember these churches were relatively new Paul probably writes Ephesians at around ad60 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 that the the animal and killed it and took the skin and covered and 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 that Church of God's faithful people but in terms of the you know 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 new relative a 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 the the language of well he's a youth pastor he's an executive Pastor he's the the lead pastor that's not how the Bible trucks the Bible just says Pastor or elder or Bishop those are synonymous terms for the for the one office that has as its function ruling and and and teaching and preaching so the Bible as well doesn't have you know pastor of Music pastor of composition Pastor that that composes the Odes that 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 you know engaging in in new spiritual dides to celebrate the glory of God most high so that's the lexical argument the three terms in Hebrew refer to the alter the three terms in Greek refer to the alter the second argument is theological look back at the text specifically in 519 it says speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and noce 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 the big word for dictionary I guess it's not any bigger than dictionary when we ask the word uh uh what does the word spiritual mean here's what bag 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 BB 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 sink even as low in its reference as the human spirit and in 24 of them is derived from panuma 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 molans or that that's Keith Green those aren't Nursery Ryan it's not lad Zeppelin it's not Metallica there's something about that spiritual song it 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 to to Warfield in this sense of belonging to or determined by the Holy Spirit the New Testament usage is uniform with one s single exception of Ephesians 6:12 where it seems to refer to the higher though superhuman intelligences he says the appropriate translation for it in each case is Spirit given or Spirit Le or spirit determin 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 uh John Gil 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 want and 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 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 the 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 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 Diddy and 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 unin inspired hity 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 519 518 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 Dei uh 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 518 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 it's 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 School of wisdom and how we're supposed to navigate in this present evil age as Blood Bought Spirit-filled children of God the 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 pray uh 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 and meaning understand him to mean Psalm 1 to 150 is the subject matter for pray 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 speak in uh uh uh we're speaking to one another in Psalms hyms 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 not 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 s uh uh speaking to one another in Psalms hymns and spiritual songs we're also singing and making melody in our hearts to God the Lord now you don't have to try to figure this all out just sing and praise God and let the 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 28 and 22 to see that our worship is trinitarian through and through 2:18 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 in the power of the spirit and we go to the father and then notice in verse 22 in whom you also 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 Tri triun 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 oneoff 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 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 embibe that we need to appreciate that that that's what Paul is saying so he is saying that we sing uh uh 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 chap 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 as if he is sort of foreshadowing that that three-fold division in the heidleberg 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 of 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 uh Proverbs Chapter 6 we read there are six things that Yahweh hates yay seven are an Abomination to him and one of them is the the the feet that so Discord among the Brethren that disc Discord is combed here by the Apostle when he says submitting to one another in the fear of God turn back to Ephesians 4 specifically at verse uh uh uh verse one I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called with all loneliness and gentleness with longsuffering 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 aggrandisement 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 69 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 o 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 will follow this out in the next couple of Sunday nights and 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 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 to9 you've got employees and employers so this principle of submitting to one another in the fear of God is n 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 22-33 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 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 uh emphases for us and our 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 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 five we're to walk in light 5'8 we're to walk in wisdom 5:15 if we are not understanding what the will of the Lord is by a search of Holy Scripture and for us this means obviously the Old Testament 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 no you know pick up your Psalm book and tear out everything from 151 and following the hope and the prayer is 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 himn is there there is no imprecatory H 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 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 oh my soul hope thou in God see 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 not trying to use weird words here but we're not going to expose you or Facebook it or anything like that you experience of God's people is why art thou discountenanced 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 his great Deliverance of e uh 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 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 uh Ephesians 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 unto 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 jus ification 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 looked 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 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 well we'll close with a brief time of meditation