It is a joy to be here with you all this morning.
We're taking a small break from our regular exposition of the gospel according to John.
! Over the past couple weeks, Nathan has preached on elders and deacons.
And this morning, as Nathan mentioned, we're going to be in the book of Colossians to consider
the command, the purpose, and the design of singing within the church.
So if you would, go ahead and turn with me to Colossians 3.
We'll be reading and looking at verse 16.
Our text reads,
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Let's pray.
Father, we praise you for your word this morning, for the gathering of your saints.
And yes, Lord, for the singing.
We pray that you would enlighten the eyes and the ears of our hearts,
that we may come to know you more deeply this morning.
We pray these things in Christ's name.
Amen.
All right.
Throughout the book of Colossians, Paul and Timothy are focusing a lot on the person and work of Christ.
He spends a bulk of his time leading into chapter 3,
reemphasizing that Christ is preeminent and rightly to be worshiped.
They are correcting the worship of man and imparting the worship of Jesus,
which, to be clear, is not just through singing.
Worship is much more expansive than singing.
But as we come into chapter 3, Paul describes Christian living in light of God,
creating a new man from death to life in Christ.
And not only is he producing new individuals, but he is building his church.
Those in Christ are to be putting off the old man with its practices
and putting on the new man with Christ's likeness.
All right.
And then Paul goes to give us some commands to achieve that and what that might look like.
And we find ourselves this morning focusing on one of these commands in verse 16.
So the first part of our text, it starts with an objective and a precondition,
dwelling on the word that guides us to the rest of our text, teaching through singing.
So we exhorted to dwell on the word and one way to do that.
And as a result of doing that, we sing.
To begin with, the command to let the word of Christ.
In our English language, the word let is often used to like allow or permit.
The Greek, however, is a little trickier than that to give the English a clear translation.
The word in Greek, the word let actually isn't even there.
It just starts with the word of Christ.
It's more of an exhortation than asking permission.
Paul's not asking us to give permission for the word of Christ to dwell richly.
Piper brought to memory how we might start off the Olympic Games.
Let the games begin.
That announcement is not asking the crowd to convene on when or how to start the games.
But it's more commanding, start the games.
So the English doesn't have a true one-to-one for how this text reads, but he is being exhortative here.
There's some debate on what the word of Christ actually is, whether it is the canon of Scripture,
the words Jesus actually said, or the general message of Christ the gospel.
Later in chapter 4, verse 3, Paul is talking about sharing the gospel, and he uses the word there to communicate that.
And in Romans 10, he says, faith comes from hearing through the word of Christ.
So I believe he's specifically referring to the gospel here, and that's what I want our hearts to be thinking about.
But since Scripture is ultimately one metanarrative of the gospel message of Christ,
it's breathed out by God, I think we can take this either way and not lose too much of the intent.
But I do want to specifically be meditating on Christ and the gospel,
since that's the main focus throughout the book.
So the word of Christ is foundational.
I mean, it is its utmost importance to anything we do,
and that particularly includes our singing.
And I'll explain more why it's a particularly important singing later,
but as God himself birthed human history with his words,
the Christian is born again through the word of Christ, the gospel.
And at all times, we should be immersed in this truth.
It is our identity once the gospel has taken its regenerating effect in our hearts.
And this message, to be clear, is that God created all things.
The first humans, Adam and Eve, fell to temptation.
They disobeyed God and introduced sin into the world.
And the sin of our first parents is now inerrant to all of us.
Therefore, we all now disobey God, and this separates us from fellowship with him.
We stand condemned for breaking his good and moral law.
And the sentence being eternal destruction,
away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might.
But praise the Lord, Christ came to uphold the law perfectly,
and then dying the death that we deserved,
so that we would not have to.
Through faith and repentance of sin, this can be true for anyone.
For you and your household, for the Jew, the Greek, the male, the female, the slave, the master,
anyone confessing and believing leaves you justified instead of being condemned.
And being justified, we are reconciled to God and adopted into his family as his children.
And I love that this is the beginning of our text.
I mean, it truly sets the foundation for what proceeds.
And this word of Christ, this gospel message, is to dwell in us richly.
Our goal in singing is to draw nearer to Christ and into deeper fellowship with him.
And we're going to focus a lot on music today, but our musical worship is not worship,
unless it is aimed and set upon Christ in his glory,
not the glory of the music itself.
Paul does not say, let the music dwell in us richly,
but rather the word of Christ.
So the word dwell here alludes to God's dwelling place amidst the Israelites
and now in his covenant people.
And 1 Corinthians 4, or 3, excuse me, 1 Corinthians 3,
Paul interprets Ezekiel by saying,
you are God's temple and God's spirit dwells in you.
So the heart of the believer is now the dwelling place of God.
Christ has torn the veil.
And so now his word, the word of Christ,
is harbored in the hearts of Christians by the spirit.
And as God dwelled in the Holy of Holies, his word now dwells in us.
And the glories of the word of Christ, they're rich.
They are rich in and of themselves.
And it is like a deep mine with the most precious of jewels to lay hold of.
And the deeper you go, the more you realize how vast that mine is.
And those jewels become more and more precious to you.
It ought to and it does.
It captivates our whole being, our hearts, our minds, our souls.
And it produces outward fruit.
We become more refined and more Christ-like the more the word dwells within us.
And that means we have to consume it.
We have to meditate on it.
We have to marvel at its beauty.
Study it.
Practice it.
Love it.
And yeah, sing it.
And for this to be true of us,
for us to have the word of Christ dwelling in us richly,
we have to have eyes to see and ears to hear that only the spirit of God can give us.
So therefore we must pray for the word to dwell in us richly.
And we must believe it like our life depends on it because it does.
So this word is rich.
And if the eyes and the ears of our heart have been opened to it,
it will produce wisdom with its knowledge.
It's not just enough to know it.
As James tells us, you believe God is one, you do well.
Even the demons believe and they shudder.
You can know all about the gospel, the word of Christ, but not truly grasp it.
And therefore it be worthless to you.
And perhaps worse than worthless, leaving you without excuse to worship the right God rightly.
But if the gospel is dwelling richly within you, it will produce wisdom.
And this wisdom should characterize how we teach and admonish one another.
In our text, it specifically moves us to teach and admonish each other through singing
and teaching wisely through our singing at that.
So the ESV, it is a very faithful translation.
But one point of clarity I do want to address is regarding the commas in our text.
I think it is best understood to add a through or by after those phrases about the dwelling and the teaching.
The ESV puts these verbs in the present tense to communicate the flow of this verse.
It's all connected.
It's happening together.
But the commas kind of can tempt me to read them as three separate commands.
So I think it's helpful to read it like this.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly by teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom
with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
We are actually teaching and admonishing one another through our psalms and our hymns and our spiritual songs.
And the outcome is that the word of Christ dwells in us more richly.
It's not just that we have three separate commands.
Let the word of Christ dwell, teach and admonish, and also sing.
Instead, we have these three commands that are connected together and influence one another.
And the big one I want to really harp on to connect is the teaching and the singing,
teaching one another with psalms.
So we have a parallel text in Ephesians 5.
You're probably familiar with it.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.
Same author, probably written from the same prison, at the same time,
sent via the same person, Tychicus.
And notice it starts with being filled,
and then it goes on to command us to address or to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
So those lyrics are sung to one another as well as to God.
And another compelling reason is more systematic to consider it this way.
2 Timothy,
All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
All scripture for teaching, reproof and correction, or admonishment.
Right?
Well, the scriptures are filled with songs.
Have you been taught and admonished by the book of Psalms?
Yeah.
Psalms is actually one of the most quoted books.
It is the most quoted book in the New Testament.
Also, the Song of Solomon.
We have Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Moses.
There's 185 songs in God's word.
And God's word is profitable for teaching and admonition,
that the man of God may be complete.
So singing is a means for the words to dwell in us richly,
as it teaches us and as we teach one another through them.
And so since we're teaching and admonishing one another through these songs,
they better be true, soul-sustaining, God-honoring songs.
It is critical that these songs are informed by the word
and that those truths run through the lyrics and ring through the musical elements.
The congregation, the songwriters, the music leaders,
all need to be dwelling on the word richly to properly teach and admonish one another.
We want to be sure that we are clinging to the word of Christ,
not man-made innovation.
And there is room for heresy to invade the church through the songs we sing,
as not all of the songs are verbatim scripture.
False teachers will secretly bring in destructive heresies.
And it's very easy to do that in singing.
Destructive songs might say some true things about the gospel,
but not the full gospel, which leads people astray.
I've noticed in most of these songs you rarely hear about sin,
but you do hear all about how much Jesus loves you.
And sadly, they miss the true grace and love and mercy of Christ
by singing as if they deserve Christ's love.
Here's one example from Hillsong.
It says,
Don't let your heart be troubled.
Hold your head up high.
Don't fear no evil.
Fix your eyes on this one truth.
God is madly in love with you.
Take courage.
Hold on.
Be strong.
Remember where your help comes from.
There's some scripture thrown in here,
but where's the magnificent grace that Christ came to cancel the record of debt you owe?
Where is the assurance being placed?
Is it on Christ or is it on your loveliness?
Places that claim the name of Christ are singing songs like that all over this morning.
And this is why it's particularly critical for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly,
with all wisdom, as we consider singing.
It's either teaching us to glorify Christ or to glorify man.
So this also means the lyrics should be clear and not ambiguous.
Otherwise, we might not be clinging to anything substantial for our souls.
It can be a mere emotional experience,
while no instruction or admonishment is actually occurring.
The Riseners have been on a Lion King kick recently.
And I was reminded of the song, Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
And Timon starts that song really vaguely, and he says, I can see what's happening.
And Pumbaa says, what?
Timon says, they don't have a clue.
Pumbaa chimes in, who?
Pumbaa can't discern what Simone is talking about.
We don't want anyone to be a Pumbaa when we sing.
We want the word of Christ to be clear and rich in its presentation as we sing,
so that we can cling to the Christocentric truths.
And more than the lyrics, it's also helpful to consider our environment
and our presentation to effectively teach one another.
For example, we keep the lights on.
We are not being mystical or individualistic.
We are speaking to one another.
I don't suppose any of you have conversations with the lights off,
chanting counsel out loud to yourself.
We do go alone to the Lord in prayer, privately, behind closed doors.
But that's not the use of singing congregationally.
It's not always wrong to close your eyes or lift your hands,
and perhaps that actually can be good sometimes.
David speaks in this way sometimes, lifting his hands in praise to God.
But just remember that you are addressing others with these truths.
You are singing to one another.
And just because we are singing to others,
that doesn't mean that the sun rises to hear you crow
and the church didn't gather to marvel at your singing.
That's not what verse 16 is teaching.
We sing, as verse 14 describes, in perfect harmony,
serving others and not ourselves.
And the other side of the spotlight coin is maybe distractive singing.
We should probably practice our singing
if we find ourselves being a disruption on Sunday.
I put myself in this camp, but you know who you are.
We do the same thing for public speaking,
to better teach and admonish one another.
I've probably already said um like 20 times this sermon.
But it is something that we do,
and we take to heart so that we can more faithfully practice,
you know, verse 16,
seeking to deliver these truths in song effectively
while not being the center of attention.
But in contrast to this center of attention,
we also didn't come here this morning
for the band to be the center of attention,
to just sit back and entertain us
while we passively mouth the words
or just pragmatically sing them
without actually seeking the edification of one another
and the worship of God.
The band is here to facilitate the congregation's role.
They play in styles and in keys.
We can all sing.
They don't have a blaring electric guitar
and overwhelming volume
so that we can't hear one another.
It's a happy medium where we can hear one another
as the band leads us in the key and melody,
and therefore the truths of the lyrics are communicated well.
So we incorporate these practices
as we sing various kinds of songs,
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
I'm not convinced of the exact definition
and distinction between these three different kinds of songs.
Some who, to be sure, are smarter than me
do break them down into specific categories,
but I think the main point is that we're using a variety of songs.
Songs from Scripture
and songs composed as a response to Scripture,
songs of lament,
songs of rejoicing,
songs of triumph,
and so on.
The psalms, however,
they do point to using instruments.
I wouldn't let someone tell you
that instruments on stage are sin.
It would be okay if we didn't,
but it certainly isn't sin to include them faithfully.
The very word psalm actually means
to strum or pluck on an instrument.
So we are to use all kinds of songs,
some accompanied by musical instruments,
others perhaps not,
but to teach and to admonish one another.
And so that's the gist of what our text is saying
in this first half,
but it leads me to the question,
why singing?
If the word of Christ is what we want to dwell in us richly,
why are we not just commanded
to speak it to one another?
Why do we go the extra step
into singing it to one another?
And this is no new command in Scripture.
It's actually one of the most frequent commands
in our Bibles.
For reference sake,
Exodus 15 and 18,
Numbers 21,
Deuteronomy 31 and 32,
2 Samuel 1, 22 and 33,
1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Psalms,
Ephesians 5, 1 Corinthians,
it goes on and on.
It's very frequent in our Bibles.
And I think there are many reasons
we seem to glorify God,
but three significant reasons
we're going to dwell on today
are one,
it's a design feature.
It's part of creation.
Number two,
it's a means of displaying
displaying our oneness in Christ.
And three,
we actually edify one another
through our response to God
in song.
So number one,
singing is founded upon
a design feature in creation.
The first song recorded in Scripture
isn't until Exodus 15,
but we have reference to music and song
all the way back to Genesis 4.
A few generations after Adam and Eve,
we have Lamex children
and their trade recorded for us.
One is Jubal,
and he was the father of all those
who play the lyre and the pipe.
There was also Tubal Cain,
and he was the forger
of all instruments of bronze and iron,
which may indicate tools,
but I like to think it includes
musical metal instruments as well.
So in the first few chapters
of human history,
there's enough business
for these brothers
to actually be professional music teachers
and perhaps instrument makers,
and we have music being played here
from the start,
and I have to assume
there were songs being sung.
We start in Genesis,
and it continues throughout human history
until Revelation and beyond.
Singing is baked into creation.
The Lord was creatively
and gloriously pleased
to make it an active part
of human history,
and it's not just found
within the church,
as we all know.
It's found everywhere.
I think most,
we go to concerts with people
who appreciate the same music.
We see Marion Pippen at the pub
singing their Green Dragon Inn.
In high school football,
if we won a game,
we would gather in the locker room
and sing a traditional song of triumph.
It's in the DNA of humans.
We are singers, music makers.
Furthermore, creation itself
is described to be singing a song
as it displays God's glory
and his sovereign rule over nature.
Psalm 98,
let the sea roar
and all that fills it,
the world and those who dwell in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the hills sing for joy together.
In Psalm 65,
the pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain.
They shout and sing together for joy.
So this is all downstream
from the attributes of our creator.
God didn't just create a world
that had mere mechanical function,
but he created functional systems
that are beautiful.
For instance, in Genesis 2,
God created out of the ground
every tree that is pleasant to sight
and good for food.
So the function of some trees
were for consuming their beauty
and other trees,
their beauty and their fruit.
The oak tree is beautiful,
but I had a rough night one time
after I ate one of its acorns.
It was not for beauty and food.
Psalm 19, which is a song,
the heavens declare the glory of God
and the sky above proclaim his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech
and night to night reveals knowledge.
So not only is God's creation functional,
but it is beautiful
as it displays the glory of the creator.
His unique creation, mankind,
was created in his image.
The creator created more,
little c, creators
to reflect and display,
to image the glory of their creator.
It's like Norman Rockwell's
painting of himself,
painting himself.
The great creator or artist or composer
has created us with a pleasure
in musical expressions.
It's one way that we bear God's image
of creating by creating music.
God's gift of music and song
is a means of communication,
but it's in an artistic and creative way.
It is both functional
in presenting information,
but it's also beautiful
in the way it is presented.
It takes words on a page
and enhances the effect
of their truths
by employing our emotions
and appreciation
of the musical features.
God himself seems to be pleased
with musically communicating deep truths,
again, as he has given us
so many songs in his word.
Harmony, rhythm, pitch,
poetic lyrics,
everything about music,
when we put them together correctly,
is pleasing.
And we will put thematic music
to our lyrics
to expound our expression
of the words we are singing.
It deepens our experience of it
so that we can feel the lyrics.
And although we see God's thumbprint
in all mankind
as they create songs,
it naturally falls short
of its intended design
in Adam.
Singing can be done
for the glory of man
or for the glory of God.
It has been corrupted in Adam,
but it can be redeemed in Christ.
If we look back
in our chapter 3 at verse 10,
we put on the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge
after the image of its creator.
So we've already been created
in the image of God,
but now we are again
being made more into the image
of a creator.
So setting our minds
on the things above,
what we now create
will reflect God's attributes
all the more.
Our songs seek to creatively
adorn the truths
that we are speaking
to glorify our great creator
as an act of worship.
So songwriters and music leaders,
they have the important
and spiritual task
of understanding
what key to play in,
what volume, pitch,
so that we can reflect
God's image as creators.
They heard us musically challenged
cats to sound better
than we would have otherwise.
They're attempting to make us
both functional and pleasing
to experience the lyrical truths
all the more,
enhancing the truths
that they may richly dwell in us.
It incorporates our emotions,
our natural attraction to music,
and our propensity to create,
and it channels those things
to present rich truths beautifully.
And, for instance,
when we sing,
great is thy faithfulness,
there's a line that reads,
all I have needed,
and the pitch ascends.
Where do we look for what we need?
Seek first the kingdom of God.
I look to the hills,
from where does my help come from?
It comes from above the hills,
and as our hearts are lifted
to look for the things we need,
so does our pitch.
The conclusion to that line is,
thy hand hath provided.
My help comes down from above,
from the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth.
So as the Lord descends with aid from above,
so does our voice.
And that's just a beautiful way
to further experience the truths
that we're singing to God.
There's also the famous Easter hymn,
Up from the Grave He Arrows.
That song starts,
Low in the grave he lay.
It's really kind of somber and low,
and you can almost hear the hopelessness
of the disciples
as they felt everything was amiss.
Messiah was gone.
Death had won the day.
But then the response is high and fast
when it sings,
Up from the Grave He Arrows.
It's really high and it's triumphant
because He has triumphed over His foes.
And it's a way to declare
the victory of Christ
over death and sin
thematically in those lyrics.
And I remember a few weeks ago,
Alex led us in Behold Our God one time.
At the end of that song,
we repeat,
You will reign for...
And I found myself thinking,
Man,
He repeated that line
one too many times.
How long is this going to go on?
And it hit me.
Yeah,
the Lord will reign forever.
Forever.
And ever.
All the way down
throughout history and beyond.
So singing that line again
and again
emphasizes the ongoing
and forever nature
of God's rule and reign.
So it's one way
that we thematically
present these rich truths
to one another.
So the second reason I see,
and perhaps the sweetest meditation
of all this,
is the fact that we are doing this
as a people
who have been called
into one body.
We, the redeemed,
are no longer just people.
We are now God's chosen people.
Let's look back into our text
for a little bit of context
of where we're at,
where Paul's mind is
as we come to verse 16.
We're going to start
in verse 9.
It says,
Do not lie to one another,
seeing that you have put off
the old self
with its practices
and have put on
the new self,
which is being renewed
in knowledge
after the image
of its creator.
Here there is no Greek
and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian,
Scythian,
slave,
free,
but Christ is all
and in all.
Put on then
as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts,
kindness against another,
forgiving each other
as the Lord
has forgiven you.
So you also must forgive.
And above all these,
put on love,
which binds everything together
in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts
to which indeed
you are called
in one body
and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing
one another
in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs
with thankfulness
in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do
in word or deed,
do everything
in the name
of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God
the Father
through Him.
Right?
So this text
is emphatic
about our oneness
in Christ
and how to glorify Him.
That's the context
we find ourselves
as we consider
singing together.
Congregational singing
is not only
a means of
praising God
individually,
but it's a way
of displaying
and embodying
our oneness
in Christ.
The word church
is a singular noun,
but it describes
a plurality
of people.
The word body
is also a singular noun,
but we are members
of one body
with,
as Colossians 2
tells us,
with Christ
as the head.
The church
is beautifully
comprised
of diverse people.
We come from
different places,
we have different
upbringings,
we have different
preferences and opinions.
You know,
some of us
wouldn't have even dared
to hang out
with one another
before Christ
had called us together.
But at the end
of the day,
the Lord has brought
us into one
heavenly family,
and we with one
voice glorify
the same God
and Father
of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
There is one body
and one spirit,
one hope,
one Lord,
one faith,
one baptism,
one God
and Father
of all.
And we are
His one chosen
people
that metaphorically
sing the same
song.
The word
of Christ
is our
anthem.
Our sins
have been paid
for by the
blood of King
Jesus,
and that's
our song.
When we sing
together,
we are showing
this usurping
power of Christ
over our
earthly differences.
And more than
calling up people
from all kinds
of places,
we also have
different and
unique giftings
that the Lord
uses to bless
the church.
The church
in this way
is like a
heavenly orchestra
with Christ
as its composer.
And when we're
using our gifts
for the greater
good of the church,
we play the score
that the Lord
wrote for us.
Our singing
and harmony
depicts our
harmony in Christ.
It illustrates
the beauty
of the church
using her
unique roles
in one accord.
We give
our individual
gifts to
bless the
body,
and we give
our individual
voices in
our songs.
And when
everyone plays
their part,
it makes
a joyful
noise.
And so
since we
have a
variety of
people with
subjective
experiences coming
to worship
in harmony,
it is good
to sing a
variety of
songs.
Songs of
lament for the
grieving heart,
as well as
songs of
rejoicing for
those who
aren't,
it would be
somewhat
self-seeking to
think that we
can't sing a
lament because
we're feeling too
cheerful that day,
or that we
can't sing some
lively carol because
we're feeling a
little gloomy.
But we sing those
songs genuinely
for the one who
may be in a
different season
than we are.
We weep with
those who weep,
and we rejoice
with those who
rejoice.
And if you're
feeling down,
maybe you need
to sing a
joyful song so
you can practice
being joyful
always and
giving thanks in
all circumstances.
Maybe you've
been living a
little too
lightheartedly,
and you need
to be brought
back to the
sincerity of
following Christ.
We can do
those things
through our
songs.
And whatever
your circumstances
are, we put
on love, and
we submit to
one another out
of reverence
for Christ.
So this leads
us into our
third reason.
Singing
exemplifies how
the heart
responds to
the truth.
We are
teaching and
admonishing one
another as we
are exemplifying
the worship of
God through
song.
When you see
a brother or
sister truly
singing and
praising the
Lord, doesn't
that edify you?
I remember
one Sunday
morning, several
years ago, as we
were singing, I
was standing next
to a brother, and
he was just
passionately
singing.
He then
threw his
arm around
my shoulder, and
he brought
me into this
praise of our
mutual Savior.
His transparent
clinging to
Christ, you
know, belting
these truths
out amidst the
church, it was
edifying to me.
Even this
morning, as I
hear you guys
sing, it is
edifying, exemplary
to me, to my
heart.
And when we
compose a song
in response to
scripture, it
can teach and
admonish us by
artists who we
should trust
again.
We're dwelling
on the word of
Christ.
God has gifted
many with the
ability to consume
scripture and
experience the Lord
working in their
hearts and then
output, creative,
encouraging, and
convicting songs.
Psalm 51, for
example, David
singing the song
of repentance,
exemplifies how a
man, after God's
own heart, responds
to committing that
grievous sin with
Bathsheba.
And we come
together to both
sing praises to
God and to teach
one another to
worship the Lord.
It is something
that the Lord has
ordained that
supplements the
exegesis of the
scriptures.
Singing teaches and
admonish one another
by showing us the
work of the spirit
through the way that
we sing and through
the lyrics of the
songs we compose in
response to the
indwell word.
So the very end of
our text, it
almost comes a bit
naturally to me.
After considering
the glory of God
in our singing, it
nearly goes without
saying with
thankfulness in your
hearts to God.
But I think it goes
with saying because
it directs our heart
posture as we
sing.
There is a duality
that we are singing
to one another, to
teach one another, and
to God with
thankfulness in your
hearts to God.
You can't just check
this cognitive box.
Sing good lyrics,
mission accomplished,
congregation has
been taught.
It needs to be from
your heart and
sincerity with
thankfulness from
your heart and for
the hearts of
others.
The goal of our
teaching through
song is to affect
the hearts of one
another as our
hearts are affected.
as this heart
change isn't from
the music or the
smoke and mirrors.
It's the truth of
the word of Christ.
Christ has consumed
the wrath.
We deserve to save
a people who
rejected him.
And this should
move you spiritually
and emotionally to
sing praises to God
and proclaim his
goodness to one
another.
I think this is
going to look
different than just
singing.
What we sing and
the way we sing
reveals what's
inside.
Out of the mouth
flows the heart.
We are called to
dwell on the word
richly.
Our hearts are
turned to
thankfulness.
And then that
sentiment is
displayed outwardly
in singing.
It is a spiritual
and emotional
expression.
Women aren't
immune from
failing in this,
but they are
typically more
inclined to
emotionally express
themselves.
Whereas men
have a harder
time.
Our culture
often tells us
that men are
to be tough
and that means
we are to
not show our
hearts outwardly.
We need to be
steady and
stable and
objective.
Colossians,
however,
tells us that
we need to be
displaying the
influence of the
word in our
hearts outwardly
as we worship
God and edify
the church with
thankfulness in
your hearts to
God.
Vulnerability and
outward expression
is not just
for the
subjective
relativists or
the emotional
flutty-duddies.
Art, the
ordinances,
imagery,
allegory,
metaphor,
all these things
when informed
by the word
can be used as
a means of
worshiping
God.
Worship
through song
is for those
strong in
Christ,
willing to,
as Matthew
records,
to acknowledge
Jesus before
men so that
Jesus will
acknowledge us
before the
Father.
And I
confess, I
used to think
I was too
tough to be
transparent,
to outwardly
display the
inward work of
the Spirit in
my heart through
various means.
The Lord
started to
sanctify me
in this when
I got married.
It was such a
beauty in
displaying Christ
in the church
through marriage.
I probably never
cried in front of
y'all until that
day, but I
wept that day.
Yeah, since
then I've grown
exponentially in
being influenced
by the beauty
of God
illustrating his
word in
various ways.
And now I
probably cry
most in church
through our
singing.
That's when my
heart is
affected deeply.
And singing,
it just brings
a felt weight
to the
doctrines we
are confessing
together.
The underlying
power of that
all is certainly
the words,
the lyrics,
the truths in
them.
But there's an
influence of the
heart there,
and that influence
is commanded to be
displayed outwardly.
So we are to be
bold and sincere
and transparent.
We're to let the
word of Christ
have its effect
and be compelled
or moved to
worship him
with thankfulness
in your hearts
to God
through song.
We could go
on, I promise
you, but time
is limited.
I think we hit
the meat of why
the Lord commands
us to sing.
There are many
entrees, but he
himself is a
singer and a
composer.
We, as one,
yet many, are
his workmanship
created in Christ
Jesus for good
works.
He commands us
to sing because
he built us to
sing to experience
his grace and
mercy in deep,
affectionate ways.
Use this gift of
singing to bless
others today.
Sing with gusto
and confidence
in the word of
Christ.
We sing with
thankfulness in our
hearts to God
because God is
due all thanks
as every good
gift is from
above, coming
down from the
Father of lights.
So in closing,
our application is
going to be very
practical.
We're going to
sing.
The first song,
I know Jordan
posted these on
Slack the other
day, but the
first song is
Come Behold the
Wondrous Mystery,
and we're actually
going to do this
a cappella.
We chose to
remove the
instruments so
that you all
can utilize the
instruments.
God gave you
and to use
them to create
a joyful noise
and experience
the oneness we
have in Christ.
This song gives
us that full
word of Christ
in his lyrics.
We were in
darkness and the
light of Christ
has come.
He saved the
hell-bound man
through his
propitiation.
We are bound
for glory together
in Christ.
And for the
second song,
we all love to
sing that one,
O Christ,
our hope,
our heart's
desire.
It's a hearty
and joyful
and thankful
song to really
feel the effect
of how music
supplements our
praises to
God.
But I'm going
to pray for us
really quick
before we sing,
and then as the
band comes up,
just take a minute
to think through
this text and
pray through this
text and put on
Colossians 3.16
as you approach
singing together.
Let's pray.
Thank you.