Thought for the day- The holy Spirit-Part 9

  Thought for the day-The Holy Spirit-Part 9

It behooves all of us who are Christian musicians to remember that we do have “a charge to keep” and also that the most important thing about our career is to glorify God with all our musicing. 

The Holy Spirit and Music Ministry-Part 9

                                  The Work of the Holy Spirit in Church Music-Part 9

            In the Old Testament the same Hebrew word that is used of the prophets Isaiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk is used of the chief musician, Chenaniah.  In other words, Chenaniah’s burden for song was borne upon him from the Lord just like the message of God was given to the prophets.  It wasn’t perfect pitch that made Chenaniah great, but it was his spiritual burden for the song of the Lord that brought him to prominence.  He is recorded in Scripture for all eternity as one who had a great burden for the ministry of music.  His burden was like that of the prophets of the Old Testament.

            As church musicians, what are we going to be remembered for when we depart this life?  Will it be that we could play sixteenth notes at a hundred and sixty-six or that we could sing a high “C”?  I don’t know about you, but I’m concerned about what kind of report will be written in the Book when I face the great day of Judgment  When I stand before Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire will my music ministry be all “lather and foam” or will He say “you rehearsed in the Holy Ghost, you directed in the Holy Ghost, you taught under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, you laid your face before me for your students, you pastored your choir, you plead with me for the music majors I placed in your charge.”  Charles Wesley wrote:

            A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify

              A never dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky;

To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill,

O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will!

Arm me with jealous care, as sin Thy sight to live;

And O, Thy servant, Lord, prepare a strict account to give!

 

The Holy Spirit and Music Ministry-Part 8

 The Work of the Holy Spirit in Music Ministry-Part 8

They do not have power for service.  So what do they do?  In the flesh they reach out continuously for something new; something to excite; something to satisfy; something to draw a crowd; something to hold the crowd’s attention, and something that will put them at rest with themselves and their own musical ministry.  They are totally unaware that Jesus is saying to them (John 6:63):

It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.

In their state of bondage to self, to their peers, and to the ecclesiastical hierarchy they cannot hear the blessed Savior say (Matthew 11:28-30):

v.  28       Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

v.  29       Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

v.  30       For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

God wants to break the yoke of bondage that plagues your musical ministry.  He is pleading with you to establish a life in the Spirit.  He is promising that it is the Holy Ghost that quickens your musical ministry.  It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that gives enduement for service – that divine influence upon the heart and ministry – that anointing that enables one to see the miraculous accomplished.  

            At this point you might ask, “What kind of burden should the church musician bear?”  I call this a positive burden, not a negative one.  Here is a biblical example of this positive burden: I Chronicles 15:22

And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful.

Wolf’s amplified version goes like this:  “And Chenaniah, whose name means Jah has planted, was an accomplished musician.  And it came to pass that he became a head person or steward of the Levite musicians and was burdened or had (massa 4853) for song.  He corrected or instructed about the burden (massa 4853) of song in as much as he could perceive and could separate or distinguish mentally.  Two things appear here, first, he had a burden for song and second, he taught others to carry a burden for song.  In the musical discourse mentioned above, the Bible places emphasis on spiritual discernment and musical skills.  I want to stress in this discussion that Chenaniah had a burden for music.  Isaiah 13:1, Nahum 1:1, and Habakkuk 1:1 all mention massa or the burden of prophesy.  W. E. Vine says, “The word “burden” (Hebrew massa 4853, a burden of mental desire) is used, for example in Nahum 1:1, signifying the burden of prophecy which was borne in upon the prophet when he received it from the Lord.

Thought for the day-The Holy Spirit-Part 8

 

                                   Thought for the day-The Holy Spirit-Part 8
The ancient Hebrew master musician Chenaniah was a skillful musician who could discern the import of music as well as a spiritual musician with a deep burden for song.  He leaves a strong example that scholarship and spirituality do not need to be at odds with each other.

 

The Holy Spirit and Music ministry-Part 7

  The Work of the Holy Spirit in Music Ministry-Part 7

       The anointing of the Holy Spirit is a particularization of the divine influence on church musicians.  A part of this “enduement” for service is the anointing of the Holy Spirit on a musician.  Acts 1:8a promises that those who shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost “...shall receive the (dunamis 1411) or miraculous ability to be witnesses.  I submit to you that a part of this witness is this miraculous Holy Spirit anointing of sanctified musicians.  Without this peculiar and miraculous divine influence upon the musician, he  or she is left in a state of spiritual and musical bondage.  The tenth chapter of Isaiah gives an account of the children of Israel being in bondage to the Assyrians and being freed from that bondage..  Verse 27 states, “ And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” 

        Many times church musicians are in this same condition.  They have a burden on their shoulders and a yoke around their neck and they plod on from month to month in bondage to others.  These “chief musicians” may be likened to the children of Israel who were here likened to an ox who had an awful burden on his shoulders and a stiff yoke around his neck.  You may ask, “What kind of bondage are you talking about?  Man has an incurable desire for excitement.  Man is constructed in such a way that he is always reaching out for the spectacular.  Every musician is created by God in such a way that he can only find true satisfaction outside of himself.  Therefore, church musicians who do not have the dunamis of the Spirit are bound by a troublesome bondage that hinders their music ministry.  Tomorrow we will continue the thought of Christian musicians who are in bondage .

Thought for the day-The Holy Spirit-Part 7

Thought for the day-The Holy Spirit-Part 7

 Musicians, being very talented persons, often are self starters and do not want to depend on anyone.  Therefore, they have to have a renewing of their mind when they become Christians in order to desire to have the leadership and anointing of the Holy Spirit upon their musicing.

 

 

       

Quote for the day-The Holy Spirit Part 6

Quote for the day-The holy spirit-Part 6

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”  (Ephesians 5:19)

The Holy Spirit and Music Ministry-Part 6

                                The work of the Holy Spirit in music Ministry-Part 6

          What are some of the purposes of these Spirit-filled songs?  There are several answers to this question.  They are corporate or congregational.  These verses mention “speaking to yourselves”.  Some commentators believe that these words suggest antiphonal or responsoral singing.  I am not sure that careful exegesis bears this out.  However, these are songs addressed to the congregation.  They are intended to draw the worshiping body closer to the Lord.  They should be a means of grace to the believer.  They are an act of worship addressed to God.  These songs are not only addressed to the congregation, i.e. one another, but are also addressed “to the Lord” and “unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Albert Barnes states, 

Singing as here meant, is a direct and solemn act of worship, and should be considered such as prayer.[i] 

They are of value to the performer and the hearer.  They are the (logos-3056 Christos-5547) Word of Christ.  They should be expository.  They should expound the Word of God and the singing of these expository songs should cause the word to (enoikeo 1774) inhabit or dwell in the mind of the Spirit-filled.  They are (pneaumatikos-4152 oide-5603) spiritual songs.  They should exalt Christ; they should honor the Trinity; and they should express victorious Christian experience.  They contain (plousious-4146 sophia-4678) abundant wisdom, godly wisdom, heavenly wisdom, or the wisdom of the Spirit.  They should not be filled with “earthiness”, but instead the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth.  They are for teaching purposes (didasko 3121).  They teach the precepts of Christ and they are for the purpose of (noutheteo 3560) admonishing, warning, cautioning, and reproving the saint and sinner alike.  How should they be sung?  They are sung in the Holy Ghost. 
         These musical offerings are given in the beauty of holiness.  They should be sung with (charis 5485) grace or the divine influence upon the heart of the performer.  When I first came to teach at God’s Bible College., I remember hearing the great evangelist,  J. Wesley Adcock admonishing us to pray “in the Holy Ghost”.  I wonder church musicians, where are those out there who should be begging our musicians to sing in the Holy Spirit?  I am longing for our churches to experience more singing “in the Holy Ghost”.  We need musicians who sing and play with the divine influence upon their hearts, i.e. sing with Holy Ghost anointing.   

“Child of the Kingdom, be filled with the Spirit! 

Nothing but fullness thy longing can meet;

‘Tis the enduement for life and for service.

Thine is the promise, so certain, so sweet.

I will pour water on him that is thirsty;

I will pour floods upon the dry ground.

Open your heart for the gift I am bringing.

While ye are seeking me, I will be found.” 

(Lucy Rider – Worship in Song #203)    

[i] Commentary on the New Testament, Albert Barns, p. 1004

Quote for the day-The Holy Spirit-part 5

 Quote for the day-The Holy Spirit-Part 5
“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:17&18)

The Holy Spirit and Music Ministry-Part 5

The Work of the Holy Spirit in Music Ministry-Part 5

There are at least two things that church musicians must remember: First, we had better not get so busy with our own program that we shut out the divine influence of the Holy Spirit on our singing and playing.  We had better be more concerned with “Holy Spirit anointing” than with performing and “production”.  Second, we had better not take singing away from the congregation.  It is through these psalms, hymns, and spiritual sons that the (Logos) or Word of God dwells in abundance in the heart of the believer.  It is a dangerous move when the church makes the decision to cut congregational singing back to one song so that we can have more “special music”.  If we are not careful, the corporate musical worship experience will disappear and the congregation will be reduced to “spectators”.  At this point the church becomes plagued with the performer-listener syndrome.

            What is meant by Spirit-filled singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs?  What are these songs?  They are heart-felt emotions.  Emotions!!! Yes, emotions!  Religious expression in singing should not be only emotion, but it should be emotional.  Spiritual singing should express strong generalized feelings caused by a series of complex spiritual reactions brought about by a holy heart-life.  From where do these songs come?  They exude from a Spirit-filled “heart-life”.  Jamison, Faussett, and Brown believe that:

The Colossians 3:16 statement, “singing with grace in your hearts” means “sing with grace” or “in grace”... “the grace of the indwelling Spirit” [i]   

It is very important for church musicians to stay on their knees until they receive the grace of the indwelling Spirit and anointing for service and until their music comes forth from the inner man, who is saturated with the presence of God.  Ephesians 5:19 says, “Making melody in your heart to the Lord”.  These melodies begin as effusions of the inner life.  They are a pouring forth of the unrestrained emotions of a life in the Spirit.  They are the expressions or “melodies” of the Spirit-filled heart.  Such Spirit-filled singing not only engages the intellect, but also the heart as well.  I Corinthians 14:15b states, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”  Biblical exegetes generally allow that (pneuma 4151) should here be rendered Holy Spirit and that (nous 3563), the word translated understanding should be rendered intellect, i.e. I will sing with the power of the Holy Spirit and with the power of my mind.  These Holy Spirit influenced outpourings are much more than mental or aesthetic performances or mere musical events.

[i] Jamison, Fausset, Brown , One Vol. Ed.  p.453