I Don’t Have to Sing – Lies
of the Enemy #10– Purity 1022
Purity 1022 04/20/2023 Purity 1022 POdcast
Purity 1022 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s stunning photo of a blue cumulus cloud
filled sky over a pathway cutting through the majesty of the Grand Canyon comes
to us from Nik Harrang who shared this scene from his recent 3 day “soul
retreat” on social media yesterday. Nik is the Director of Operations for Deeper
Walk international and the leader of the third cohort of Deeper Walk’s School
of Prayer Ministry and he not only “talks the talk” but actually “walks the
deeper walk” of Christian Discipleship as he dedicated three days at the Grand
Canyon to “hike, pray, rest, and reflect”.
Nik’s passion for helping Christians experience the deeper walk of heart
focused discipleship is clearly demonstrated in his work and how lives his
life.
Well it’s Thursday again, and as is my habit, I
share Nik’s photo of a pathway through the Grand Canyon, because of it’s
stunning beauty, and as a visual reminder or encourage to stay on or to get on
the path of Christian discipleship. Who
takes three days to “hike, pray, rest, and reflect”? While we could answer that
question in a number of ways, I will merely offer that “more Christians should.”
Of course, I don’t mean to make that suggestion a
command but I would offer the idea of taking a “soul retreat” as an invitation to
a possible way to draw closer to the Lord.
However, I can already hear objections in my
imagination from “Christians” that would tell me: “I don’t have to do that to be
a Christian.” Or “I don’t have to “try harder” to be a Christian.
The last thing I want to suggest is that you “must”
do certain things to be a Christian, but I would suggest that doing the
disciplines that are highlighted in the Bible could help us to transform our
minds and hearts and cause us to mature in our faith.
I don’t know what benefits Nik may have gotten from his
three day “soul retreat” through the Grand Canyon, but I can assuredly tell you
that he wouldn’t have experienced them if he didn’t “go there”.
We only benefit from the things we believe and do on
this pathway and while we should be discerning in what path we follow when
answering the Lord’s call on our life and will go though periods of “waiting on
God”, we rarely regret the results of our efforts of “stepping out” in
faith.
So I suggest a lifestyle of Christian discipleship,
that could very well include a periodic pilgrimage or restful retreat, because
I have benefited from these practices. Part of my daily spiritual practice includes
physical exercise while listening to Christian worship music. It’s something that I don’t have to do but I
receive physical and spiritual benefits when I choose to do them. Our walk is about freedom and making “good
choices” as my sister-in-law reminds my niece and nephews as she tries to lead
them in the way they should go.
So while we can and should exercise our freedom to
say “No.” to “trying harder” from time to time we should also realize that exercising
our freedom to “not do that.” could be part of the reason whyy we don’t feel
fulfilled in our faith life or feel that we aren’t growing in maturity.
One of the things I discovered through my Christian
walk is the immense value of expressing my love for the Lord through song. I feel that singing to the Lord in worship
can be used by the Lord to take your head knowledge of the Him and put it into
your heart. You don’t have to do that, of course, but I would suggest you
should.
Just this morning I was reminded of anworship song
we sang at my old church “I surrender” by Jesus Culture and while I wasn’t
enamored with the live version I listened to while working out, later I found
myself erupting in spontaneous song – my version of it.
“ All to You, I surrender
Everything, every part of me
All to You, I surrender
All of my dreams, all of me
I surrender …. (repeat)
Your love makes it worth it
Your love makes it worth it
Your love makes it worth it all”
And then I felt compelled to repeat that, the chorus
and that bridge, several times because it wasn’t just a song, it was the truth.
It was a way to express my desire to surrender to the Lord and my appreciation
of His love.
But in our culture, even in enthusiastic churches, there
are some people who just don’t sing. And
I know that’s their choice but today I am suggesting that social awkwardness
and lack of musical talent (it doesn’t stop me) - might not be all there is in someone’s
decision to remain silent during corporate praise and worship. I think
that the last thing the enemy wants you to do is to sing God’s praises and that
he may be influencing those who don’t.
And so that brings us to our current series, which
is an examination of some of the common lies that the enemy tells us to cause
us to doubt our faith, steal our peace, or to influence us to choose not to
follow the Lord with the way we live our lives. And I know that some may
object, but
Today’s big lie is:
Lie # 10: I Don’t
Have to Sing.
Okay, I’m putting forth this as a lie of the enemy,
you know I am going to use the word of God to show that Christians are encouraged
if not commanded to sing.
First off, I would point to the Book of Psalms –
which has been literally referred to as the “Songbook of the Bible” by some- as
more than enough evidence to make this point.
There are 150 Psalms in the Bible and many of them have little
instructions like “To the Chief Musician. Or “With stringed instruments. – Like
Psalm 4, for instance. While you can pray
through the psalms, you can, and probably should, also sing through them apparently.
As Britanica.com tells us: “Psalms, (the) book of
the Old Testament (is) composed of sacred songs, or of sacred poems meant to be
sung.” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Psalms).
I didn’t say it Britannica did: “Meant to be sung.” So sing with me!
And of course, I am going to my friends at Open Bible
. info and sharing a link on the blog today for 100 Bible verses about singing
(https://www.openbible.info/topics/singing
) to provide those who are curious to
see more evidence for the fact of and implied command to sing to the Lord. One
of the verses they share is:
Colossians
3:16 (NKJV) which says
16 Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord.
I
love this one because it not only encourages Bible study but tells is to teach
and (admonish – advise) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, SINGING with
grace in your hearts to the Lord! Come on! Sing with me!
In
the verses leading up to the “spiritual warfare verses in Ephesians 6, Paul
encourages Christians by telling them to:
Ephesians
5:18-21 (NKJV)
18 … not be drunk with wine,
in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always
for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another
in the fear of God.
Here
we have the injunction against drunkenness, for a spirit filled walk with the
Lord that includes gratitude, and SINGING!
I
think I made my point but if you’d like , check out that link (https://www.openbible.info/topics/singing)
to see even more Bible verses that tell us to Sing of the goodness of God and to
Praise the Lord in song.
So open your hearts, minds, and mouths to combat
this lie of the enemy that “I don’t have to sing” and by raising your minds,
will, emotions, and voice in Singing to the Lord. Singing to the Lord not only sends the enemy
running, praise is a weapon of spiritual warfare, but it can also raise your
love for the Lord and be used by the Holy Spirit to elevate you to new heights
of joy and spiritual maturity as the heartfelt singing can be a vehicle for a
major breakthrough in your faith life.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse is:
Proverbs 12:19 (NLT2)
19 Truthful words stand the
test of time, but lies are soon exposed.
Today’s verse assures us
that all lies will be exposed and that words of truth will stand the test of
time.
God’s word is the word of
Truth. It tells us about the facts of life and the spiritual realities that God
rules and governs the universe by. It
tells us about what really matters and invites us to believe it and apply its
wisdom to our lives to prosper. It also presents the gospel of Jesus Christ and
gives us the invitation to eternal life by placing our faith in Him. The truth of the Bible has been proved by archaeology
and by the fulfilled prophecies it contains.
The word of God is the truth by which everything will be judged.
And if what we say or do
doesn’t align with its truth, it will be exposed as foolishness and because it
opposes the truth will ultimately be shown to be a lie.
So stand on the truth of
God’s word and live by it because no matter how convincing the world, the
flesh, or the devil may be, their philosophies, theories, and temptations will
one day be shown to be a pack of lies.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
APPENDIX I
THE WILL OF GOD
In treating of the Will of God some
theologians have differentiated between His decretive
will and His permissive will,
insisting that there are certain things which God has positively foreordained
but other things which He merely suffers to exist or happen. But such a
distinction is really no distinction at all, inasmuch as God only permits that
which is according to His will. No such distinction would have been invented
had these theologians discerned that God could have decreed the existence and activities of sin without Himself being the Author
of sin. Personally, we much prefer to adopt the distinction made by the older
Calvinists between God’s secret and revealed will, or, to state it in another
way, His disposing and His preceptive will.
God’s revealed will
is made known in His Word, but His secret will is His own hidden counsels.
God’s revealed will is the definer of our duty and the standard of our
responsibility. The primary and basic reason why I should follow a certain
course or do a certain thing is because it is God’s will that I should, His will being clearly defined for me in
His Word. That I should not follow a certain course, that I must refrain from
doing certain things, is because they are contrary
to God’s revealed will. But suppose I disobey God’s Word, then do I not cross His will? And if so, how can it
still be true that God’s will is always
done and His counsel accomplished at all times? Such questions should make
evident the necessity for the distinction here advocated. God’s revealed will is frequently crossed, but His secret
will is never thwarted. That it is
legitimate for us to make such a distinction concerning God’s will is clear
from Scripture. Take these two passages: “For this is the will of God, even
your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3); “For who hath resisted His will?” (Rom.
9:19). Would any thoughtful reader declare that God’s “will” has precisely the
same meaning in both of these passages? We surely hope not. The first passage
refers to God’s revealed will, the latter to His secret will. The first passage
concerns our duty, the latter declares that God’s secret purpose is immutable and
must come to pass notwithstanding the creature’s insubordination. God’s
revealed will is never done perfectly or fully by any of us even in the
minutest particular. His secret will mainly concerns future events; His revealed will our present duty: the one has to do with His irresistible purpose, the
other with His manifested pleasure: the one is wrought upon us and accomplished
through us, the other is to be done by us.
The secret will of
God is His eternal, unchanging purpose concerning all things which He hath
made, to be brought about by certain means to their appointed ends: of this God
expressly declares “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 46:10). This is the absolute, efficacious
will of God, always effected, always fulfilled. The revealed will of God
contains not His purpose and decree but our duty, not what He will do according to His eternal counsel, but what we should do if we would please Him, and
this is expressed in the precepts and promises of His Word. Whatever God has
determined within Himself, whether to do Himself, or to do by others, or to
suffer to be done, whilst it is in His own breast, and is not made known by any
event in providence, or by precept, or by prophecy, is His secret will. Such
are the deep things of God, the thoughts of His heart, the counsels of His
mind, which are impenetrable to all creatures. But when these are made known
they become His revealed will: such is almost the whole book of Revelation
wherein God has made known to us “things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev.
1:1—“must” because He has eternally purposed that they should).
It has been objected
by Arminian theologians that the division of God’s will into secret and
revealed is untenable because it makes God to have two different wills, the one
opposed to the other. But this is a mistake, due to their failure to see that
the secret and revealed will of God respect entirely different objects. If God
should require and forbid the same thing, or if He should decree the same thing
should and should not exist then would His secret and revealed will be
contradictory and purposeless. If those who object to the secret and revealed
will of God being inconsistent would only make the same distinction in this
case that they do in many other cases, the seeming inconsistency would at once
disappear. How often do men draw a sharp distinction between what is desirable
in its own nature and what is not
desirable all things considered. For
example, the fond parent does not desire simply
considered to punish his offending child, but, all things considered, he knows it is his bounden duty and so
corrects his child. And though he tells his child he does not desire to punish him, but that he is satisfied it is for
the best all things considered to do
so, then an intelligent child would see no inconsistency in what his father
says and does. Just so the All-wise Creator may consistently decree to bring to
pass things which He hates, forbids and condemns. God chooses that some things
shall exist which He thoroughly hates (in their intrinsic nature), and He also
chooses that some things shall not yet exist which He perfectly loves (in their
intrinsic nature). For example: He commanded that Pharaoh should let His people
go because that was right in the nature
of things, yet, He had secretly declared that Pharaoh should not let His people go, not because it was right in Pharaoh to
refuse but because it was best all things
considered that he should not let
them go—i.e. best because it subserved God’s larger purpose.[1]
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