7 August 2022 PM – Psalm 100:1-2 – Music22 – Scott Childs
Introduction: Read Psalm 100:1-2. Because God created music and His Word, the Bible is to be our manual, we need a biblical philosophy of music. Your philosophy is “Why you do what you do.” You and I need biblical reasons for why we do what we do in the area of music.
Transition: Last week, I gave you three reasons why we ought to govern why we do what we do with music. 1) God created music. 2) God has a specific purpose for music. 3) God promoted music in the Bible.
This evening, I want to give you a fourth biblical reason that should govern why we do what we do with music.
4th biblical reason that should govern why we do what we do with music is …
4. God’s Principles Must Govern Our Music
When evaluating music to determine if it truly pleases God, we must apply Bible principles. We studied these principles in a general context on Wednesday evenings one year ago, but now I want us to apply them specifically to CCM ‘Contemporary Christian Music’. These principles generate questions to help us make biblical choices.
a. The association principle
By listening or playing this CCM, with whom am I associating?
1) Does this music sound like the ungodly music of this world? (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (Ephesians 5:11) “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.“
2) Could the sound of this music harm my testimony? (Romans 14:16) “Let not then your good be evil spoken of:“
3) Could this music cause me to love the world’s music? (1 John 2:15) “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.“
4) Does this music associate me with ungodly people? (1 Corinthians 15:33) “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.“
b. The wedge principle
1) In a spiritual sense, a wedge is anything that could become a habit or that could lead to further involvement that would be sinful.
2) Could this CCM give me a taste for Rock music that I know is ungodly? (Romans 13:14) “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.“
c. The doubt principle
1) Do I have some doubts whether this song, singer, or group is pleasing to the Lord? (Romans 14:22-23) “Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned* if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” *The word “damned” does not mean sent to hell. It means to be condemned or guilty before God.
2) Do I doubt whether this music is a wise choice for my listening? (Proverbs 22:3) “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.“
3) Would the godly people I know be happy to listen to this kind of music? What would Jesus do?
d. The distinction principle
1) Before the Babylonian captivity, God was angry with Israel because her priests were unholy. (Ezekiel 22:26) “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” Does this music make a clear distinction between the holy and profane?
2) God told Christians, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” (2 Corinthians 6:17). Does this music clearly keep me separate from all that God calls unclean?
3) Could this music make me lukewarm Christian? (Revelation 3:16) “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
4) Do the lyrics distinctly express sound Bible doctrine? Are they clear and edifying?
5) Is this music clearly godly, and not at all sensual? Does it clearly have a straight rhythm with no fleshly backbeat rhythm? Does it sound like something the angels in heaven might sing, and not at all like the fleshly music of the world? Does it move the heart, not the hips? Does it sound distinctly Christian, or would it appeal to unbelievers? Nowhere in the Bible is music used to appeal to unbelievers, so they can hear the gospel.
e. The glorification principle
1) God receives glory from angels because He is holy. (Isaiah 6:3) “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.“
2) God deserves our glory – praise, honour, or adorning. (Psalms 29:2) “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (Psalms 13:6) “I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.“
3) God is worthy to receive glory and honour. (Revelation 4:11) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.“
4) He desires that all creation glorify Him. (Numbers 14:21) “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.“
5) All that we do is to bring glory to God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.“
6) (Psalms 66:2) “Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.” When music glorifies God, He gets all the glory and praise; the singer gets none! The showiness, dancing, carnality and immodesty connected with so-called Praise & Worship services entertains, pleases the flesh and glorifies the singer – not God.
f. The Best Choice Principle
1) God knows what is best. (Romans 11:33) “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Our desire ought to be to discover and do God’s best in every area of life.
2) Paul said, (1 Corinthians 6:12) “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient*: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” *Helpful
3) God-pleasing music is readily available today. We ought to choose to sing and hear only what God would call the best. Check out www.AbidingRadio.org for good listening.
Conclusion: I challenge you to develop a biblical philosophy of music for your personal life and family. Base it solidly on the Bible. Let these principles be your guide. Though some CCM singers may have good motives, if the words, music, associations, or presentations do not pass biblical evaluation, the wise thing to do is to find better music options.
Now I want us to listen and evaluate some music using the Biblical Philosophy of Music I just presented. A dangerous trend today among some Baptist churches is to take CCM music, calm it down a bit, and use it in their services. This creates a natural stepping-stone over into CCM, which is already a stepping-stone into Rock.
