I want to focus upon just the first few verses there at the beginning of chapter 33, where
the Bible reads,
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord
with heart.
Sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song.
Play skillfully with a loud noise.
And what I want to preach about this morning is the subject of music. And music is a really
important subject in the Bible. In fact, the longest book in the Bible is the book of Psalms
with 150 chapters. And basically what it is, is a song book. If you read through the
book of Psalms, it becomes clear that these are songs that were actually sung to music
back in the days of the children of Israel when these songs were written. And basically
that should tell us something right away about the importance of music. The longest book
in the Bible is a song book. And it's all about singing praises to God. And these songs
also tell great stories about things that happened in the past. And also they prophesy
about the coming of Jesus Christ. I mean, it's a great book in the Bible. But let's
go through and see some of the things that God has to say about music in the book of
Psalms. Look at Psalm 40. We're in Psalm 33, where God commanded us to rejoice, to sing
praises. He talked about using various musical instruments. But look at Psalm 40, verse 1.
The Bible reads, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me and heard my
cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my goings. And he had put a new song in my mouth, even praise
unto our God. Many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Look at Psalm 96.
This is all by way of introduction. I just want to show you some things from the book
of Psalms. Look at Psalm 96, verse number 1. The Bible reads, O sing unto the Lord a
new song. Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord. Bless his name. Show forth
his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among
all people. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all
gods, for all the gods of the nations are idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Look
at Psalm 144 for the end of the book of Psalms. Psalm 144, in verse number 9. 144 reads, I
will sing a new song unto thee, O God, upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings,
while I sing praises unto thee. And then just go over just a few pages to the right, Psalm
150. The last psalm says this, Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise
him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according
to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with
the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. Praise him with stringed
instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals. Praise him upon the high sounding
cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Now, look, we
could go on and on. I mean, we're only reading just a few psalms here. We could go on and
on throughout the book of Psalms where God is commanding us to sing praises unto him,
right? And he also talks a lot about musical instruments being used to bring praise to
him. He mentions a lot of stringed instruments. He mentions cymbals, organs, timbrels, harps,
all these different musical instruments that we are to use to sing praises unto God and
to praise his name. Now, one thing I want to point out is that you noticed over and
over again he said sing a new song. Well, he defined what that meant in Psalm 40 when
he said that after he got saved, David is talking about how he was delivered from the
pit, you know, basically a reference to hell there is what he's referring to. And he's
saying he's standing upon the rock, which of course we know that that rock is Jesus
Christ from the New Testament. And he said he has put a new song in my mouth and he explains
that is even praise to our God. You see, we as Christians, we as Bible believing people
of God need to be singing the new song, not the old song of this world. You see, God is
telling us here that the songs that need to be coming out of our mouth are praises to
God. We should be singing praises unto God, not the same old stuff that we used to sing
or that we hear the world singing and so forth. You see, music is a huge subject today because
music is a big part of people's lives. And I think music has always been a big part of
people's lives. But today it seems like every teenager you see, every young person you see,
you know, they've got their iPod and they've got their headphones in. And I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with the iPod or listening to something on headphones, but the problem
is that the music that's being listened to today by the young people is garbage. And
by the way, lest you just get all over the young people, the music that's listened to
by the older crowd today is the same garbage. It's just the garbage that they listened to
when they were teenagers, you know, back in the 1960s. And it's just as bad. And I want
to expose to you why it's so important that we have the right music in our life. Now if
you would, turn to Ephesians chapter number 5 verse 18. Ephesians in the New Testament,
Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, 18. Some of the things we saw in those verses
we went through in Psalms was that we should be praising God from day to day. Every single
day He commands us to sing praises unto Him, right? I mean Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday. Not just when we come to church. He said day unto day. He said let
everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. And just to avoid repetition
I only read for you several examples. There are way, way more scriptures in the book of
Psalms on that subject. But look at Ephesians 5, 18. It says this, and be not drunk with
wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And then he elaborates upon being
filled with the Spirit. He says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So according to
these scriptures here, our music should be psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, right?
So let me ask you something. Where does the world's trash fit into that? Where does all
the hip hop and R&B and rock and roll and country western that everybody tunes into
on the radio today, that's everything that's of the world, that has nothing to do with
God, nothing to do with Jesus Christ, nothing to do with the Bible, nothing to do with salvation
unless perhaps it's blaspheming it. Where do you find that in this verse? When He says
we should be filled with the Spirit. If something's filled, there's not room for anything else.
That's the definition of being full. I mean if this cup were full, you can't add anything
to it, can you? If it's not filled, there's room for everything else. But if we are filled
with the Spirit, if day by day the new song is in our mouth, if we are constantly speaking
to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, let me ask you something. Where does
the world's music, where does U2 fit into that category? Where does REM fit into that
category? Where does Bon Jovi, okay I'm sorry, I'm a child of the 80s, somebody help me out
with some newer groups here. Come on, worldly ones, call out some of the new music. I'm
tired of preaching about the same music for years. Lady Gaga. What? Lady Gaga. Where does
that, what is that? The horrible music of today, I dread to think because 10 years ago
when I was listening to this stuff, it was bad then. And I doubt it's gotten better in
the last 10 years. And whenever I catch bits and pieces of it, because I'm like you, right?
I go into restaurants, I go into the airport, I go to the gas station, I go to the store,
and I hear this stuff playing all the time. And some of the stuff that I hear coming over
the speakers is literally obscene. And I wonder like how is this even allowed to be played
on a normal radio station? The obscenity and the filth that's coming across. And music
is a powerful thing. Because if music caused me to be filled with the spirit, okay, if
I'm filled with the spirit as I sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, I wonder what
spirit I'm filled with when I'm singing along with Lady Gaga, you know, or whatever else.
Garbage is being played across the radio today. So we need to take this admonition seriously
to speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Look at Psalm 22. Go
back to Psalm 22. Back in the book of Psalms. And this is a great psalm about prophesying
the coming of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. But it says in Psalm 22 verse 3,
it says, But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Isn't that an interesting
verse? According to that verse, God lives inside of the praises of his people. Do you
see that? Thou that inhabitest the praises of thy people. So music is a spiritual thing,
isn't it? If we're filled with the spirit, speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, and we see here that God inhabits the praises of Israel, go down
in Psalm 22, just a few verses to verse number 22, it says this, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. That's quoted in the New
Testament as, In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee, in Hebrews 2.12.
So we see here that we should be singing God's praises first of all in church. Look at verse
25. He says almost the same thing. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation.
Congregation means church, according to the Bible. I will pay my vows before them that
fear him. Go to Psalm 35 18. Psalm 35 18. So far we've seen that music is a spiritual
thing. It's something that God commands us to be singing daily, praises to him the new
song, God's music, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. But look at Psalm 35 18, it says I
will give thee thanks in the great congregation. I will praise thee among much people. So when
we come to church it's a time to sing, right? When we're in the congregation, when we're
among much people. Look at Psalm 89 verse 5. This is why we have congregational singing
at Faith Ward Baptist Church. This is why instead of just coming and sitting in the
chair and listening to some performer get up here and sing, which is what a lot of churches
are slowly switching to and totally have replaced congregational singing with you sitting
and listening to someone else sing. Now, where in any of these verses did it say listen to
someone sing? Listen to music? No, it's just over and over it's telling us to sing praises.
In the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto thee? In the midst of the church
will I praise it? I will praise the Lord in the midst of the congregation. Look at Psalm
89 verse 5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also
in the congregation of the saints. Look at Psalm 107 verse 32. Psalm 107 verse 32 says
this, let them exalt him, talking about exalting the Lord Jesus Christ, in the congregation
of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. So it's very scriptural to
sing in church, isn't it? Look at Psalm 111 verse 1. Psalm 111 verse 1 says this,
praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of the
upright and in the congregation. So does it sound like church is a place that we go to
just listen to music and sit back and be expected? No, we're supposed to go to church and sing
praises to God in the congregation. That's why when we have singing, we have songbooks
on every chair. You can open the book, sing along, and we can all sing out with a loud
voice, the Bible says, and praise God with these psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Look at Psalm 149 verse 1. Psalm 149 verse 1, right at the end of the book of Psalms,
it says, praise ye the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise in the congregation
of the saints. So we see over and over again that we're supposed to come to church, we're
supposed to sing, we're supposed to praise God, but not only at church, day to day, every
day we should be singing the praise of God. That's why I encourage you, if you don't have
one of these hymnals, take it home. Take one home. I mean, honestly, we give them out for
free. We don't sell anything here. This isn't a house of merchandise. And so these hymns
should be with you, these songs and other songs and hymns and spiritual songs should
be with you throughout the week. I take this book with me all the time and sing these praises
to God. Because music should be a part of our life, but it shouldn't be the world's
music, it shouldn't be the godless music of this world that teaches you and says to you
nothing that's right. I mean, if you listen to the world's music, it is empty, it's vain,
it's meaningless. How many songs have you listened to of the world's music and you just
wonder, what is this song even about? What do these words even mean? The world doesn't
have anything to sing about. They're unsaved, they're going to hell, they don't even believe
in God, they don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so all they can do is glorify
money. Or they can glorify the relationship with the opposite gender. I mean, that's all
they know is just the flesh, just whatever the flesh can understand, which is just, you
know, boy-girl relationships or money. And they don't exalt marriage. You know, you don't
listen to songs about, you know, we've been married for 30 years. No. It's all about dating.
It's all about just meeting someone. So here's the problem. You got people being married
for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, but that whole time they're just listening to songs
all day about dating. And then here's what they do. They divorce their spouse and go
date because it's been glorified in their mind. Seriously. I mean, stop and think about
it. I'm 29 years old, okay? Now, I've been married for over 10 years. You know, God willing,
if my wife and I are both still alive, we're going to be married probably for 40 or 50
years, right? I mean, we're going to spend most of our life... So if I got married at
age 19 and I'm married until I'm 69 or 79, you know, I'm going to be married for a really
long time, right? How long was I really dating for? Just a couple of years. I mean, that's
a really small part of your life. Do you understand that? I mean, when you're young, you're dating,
you're in that phase. But all the world's music, that's all it's about all day long.
And it glorifies into people's mind that people that are married today, they have this
midlife crisis because they want to go relive something that's been pumped into their mind
five million times through the world's music. You know, we ought to sing about something
that matters a little bit more than just singing about teenagers dating all day long. You know,
is that what your whole life is about? Is that what you listen to for two hours a day
every day? I mean, why don't you meditate upon God's word? You know, why don't you sing
some songs that praise God and lift up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Look at Colossians
chapter 3 verse 16. But the world has nothing to sing about except just the flesh. You know,
they can sing about it, and most of it's illicit anyway. And most of it is godless anyway.
You know, the hip-hop music of today, if you want to get on that, what does it glorify?
Drugs. You know, you get the Dr. Dre again, you know, I don't know the new stuff, okay?
Help me out. Is it still around? Still D-R-E, right? No. So, you know, he's still around
but I don't know the new rap artist. But, you know, when I think of rap music, I'm thinking
of when I was younger, you know, I was a teenager. It was Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, you know, that
was the rap music. And, you know, if you open up the Dr. Dre CD, it's just everything is
marijuana, everything is pot, everything, that's all it's glorifying through and through.
And it's all glorifying just using and abusing women, calling women derogatory names, right?
Being disrespectful to women, calling them derogatory names, being abusive to them, and
it's glorifying the music. And if you pump that music into your mind all day, it will
affect the way that you think. It will affect the way that you act. Don't say it doesn't
affect you. If the right kind of music, according to the Bible, can cause me to be filled with
the Spirit, then the wrong kind of music can fill you with the Spirit of this world. The
Bible says we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. That means there is a
Spirit of this world, isn't there? According to 1 Corinthians 2. And he said that's not
the Spirit that we should be filling our mind with. We should be filled with the Spirit
of God, the Holy Spirit. And there's nothing holy about today's hip-hop music culture that
glorifies violence, that glorifies fornication, that glorifies being a whoremonger, that glorifies
the love of money and doing anything to get money. That is not of God. And then if we
get on to the rock and roll music, and you can get on to the gothic, the dark themes
of rock music. I mean today, if you look at the typical rock music cover, what's very
dark, gloomy, you know, skulls, you see all these images of death. And the Bible says
this, all they that hate me love death. And that's why you see a glorification of death
and dying and evil among the rock music of the day, the hard rock and the dark themes.
I mean that's not what God wants to say. The Bible says what so ever things are true, what
so ever things are honest, what so ever things are just, what so ever things are pure, what
so ever things are lovely, what so ever things are a good report. He said if there be any
virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. He doesn't want us to just glorify
death. And you look at the artists that sing this music, and you know, what do they have?
Men with dark eye makeup. Isn't it true? Men with dark eye makeup, trying to look dark
and evil. First of all, what are you doing putting on makeup as a man? Are you some kind
of a queer or something? And you know, back in the 80's they put on all kinds of makeup
and everything, these rock stars, they would put on full blown makeup, lipstick, eyeliner.
It's filthy. It's garbage. And we as Christians have just become immune to it because we live
in this world, we just begin to just accept anything as normal. Just oh yeah, it's just
normal, it's just rap music, it's just rock music, whatever. But really, it's wicked.
You know, we could go through each style of individual music. And to me, one of the most
blasphemous music, types of music that I hear is country music. Because country music often
times drags in the name of Jesus Christ, even though the subject matter is wicked. Like
for example, you'll hear a lot of country music songs sing about adultery and drinking
and fornication and yet they'll tie in Jesus Christ. I heard a song on the radio just in
a public place that the chorus of the song was about some hillbilly stupid town or something,
you know, they glorify some river that you've never heard of or some town or whatever, you
know, in the middle of nowhere. And they said, that's where I drank my first beer, that's
where I found Jesus. That's the chorus. It's where I drank my first beer, it's where I
found Jesus. And then I heard another country song recently that was basically teaching
work salvation. Saying that basically you had to be good to go to heaven. I heard it,
I think this is like a 50s or 60s pop song that came back into fashion. You know, I'm
not going to get up here and sing it for you. But I heard this other little doo-wop type
song, one of the golden oldies. It said, where oh where can my baby be? The Lord took
her away from me. She's gone to heaven so I've got to be good. So then I'll go there
or whatever. Who's heard that? Who knows the song I'm talking about? Huh? Worldly crowd.
So basically what's the song saying? You've got to be good to go to heaven. No, that's
not what the Bible says. The Bible says there's none that doeth good, no, not one. The Bible
says what must I do to be saved? And they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. But is that what the song teaches? She went to heaven so I need
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior? No. Oh I've got to be good so that
I'll go to heaven. You know, and how can we as God's people listen to that and approve
of that type of music? And that's the type of message that's in a lot of these songs.
I heard another country western song that was all about an idol. It was all about a
statue of Jesus that this man made and put in his front yard. Which is idolatry, it's
a graven image. And that was the whole song was about. Who's heard that song? Thank God
we don't have listeners of that kind of song. I heard it all the way. It was all about like
just building this graven image to Jesus and how great it was to put that in the front
yard. And I'm sorry, but music that's produced by the world is not going to lift up righteousness
and the things of God. Okay. Now where did I have you turn or did I have you turn in
Yeah, look at Colossians 3. Colossians chapter 3. And we're going to get into some other
things about music here. But forgive me for not knowing enough about worldly music. I'm
doing the best I can up here. But anyway, Colossians chapter 3 verse 16. I thank God
I don't know about it. Why would I want to know about it? You think I'm going to research
it and study it for this sermon? You know what I researched for this sermon? The Bible.
I'm sorry if I only know three hip hop groups. I don't want to know a fourth group. But anyway,
in Colossians 3 verse 16 it says, Let the word of Christ, listen carefully to these
words. 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. Now, the Bible says here that when we come together as a church, this book of
Colossians is written to the church at Colossae. When we come to church, the Bible says when
we sing together in the congregation as we saw, what, 15 times in the book of Psalms,
we're teaching and admonishing one another, aren't we? That's because whenever you sing
music or listen to music, something is being taught, right? Because he said teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So if we hear songs that
are teaching the wrong message, we're learning false doctrine. That's why it's so important
that we make sure that the songs that we sing are preaching the truth. Now, when young people
are listening to that song, I've got to go to heaven or I want to go to heaven so I've
got to be good, that's teaching them something. And when we knock on that person's door to
try to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's already been programmed into their
head hundreds of times. Because you know people listen to the same songs hundreds of times.
And they've heard over and over, she's gone to heaven so I've got to be good, I've got
to be good, I've got to be good, I've got to be good. And then we come to the door and
try to give them the gospel and they still think, I've got to be good, I've got to be
good, I've got to be good. That's how I'm going to be saved. Not to mention all the
other things it teaches about their lifestyle, about their dating, about the way that they
interact with the opposite gender that's been brainwashed and programmed in their mind.
But music is a teaching tool. That's why the songs that we sing, we strive to make sure
that they're always doctrinally correct. Like some of the hymns that we sing, you can see
great doctrine being taught. Like for example, one of my favorite songs in the hymnal, 263,
Verily Verily. Who knows the song? But okay, 263. It says, oh what a savior that he died
for me. From condemnation he hath made me free. He that believeth on the sun, saith
he, hath everlasting life. Now isn't that, that's a great message. And every verse of
the song is teaching more doctrine about how salvation is through believing on Jesus Christ.
Other verses of the song talk about how you can't lose your salvation, how it's free,
and all these different things that are taught in that song. And the songs that we sing here,
they teach all kinds of great truths. They're very deep songs. They're not shallow. They're
teaching and admonishing us Bible truths, Bible doctrines. Now, we've pretty much talked about
what's wrong with the world's music. You know, obviously you could probably in your mind
say, well I have this certain CD or this group and I don't really think that there's anything
wrong with it. Okay, we'll turn to 1 John chapter 2. You know, we're talking about worldly
music, we're talking about just, you know, stuff that's popular, stuff that's played
on the radio, whether it be, you know, and I don't know what your little genre is, you
know, rock, country, pop, hip hop, R&B, whatever the style of being, they probably come out
with new styles that I don't even know. Emo, is that a style of music? Or is that just
the way that feminine guys dress? Are there any new genres that I'm leaving out? Grunge?
You know, whatever type of musical genres are out there. You know, I don't have time
to sit here and go through each song. Because if I had time, I could be up here for 10 hours
and just go through each group, each song, each album and just tell you what's wrong
with it. Number 1, I don't want to do that research. Number 2, it's not necessary because
if you get these Bible principles down, you'll be able to select the right music. Because
first of all, anything that is coming from the world is wrong. Let me show you why. Look
at 1 John chapter 2. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 15, it says this, 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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the
eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Now, here we're talking
about two different sources of things. The word of there is like a source. There are
things that come from God, things that come from the Father, and then there are things
that come from the world, right? And the Bible is telling us here in 1 John 2.15 that all
that is in the world pretty much exalts these three things and falls under these three categories.
Because he says in verse number 16, for all that is in the world, comma, he's going to
tell us what's in the world. This is what's out there in the world of music. The lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Now, think about the world's
music today. Doesn't it characterize those three things? Like, for example, the lust
of the eyes. Go to a record store, go to a CD store, go to a store where you find all
the, don't laugh at me for not having a record store, they are called record stores, okay?
Anyway, go to a record store, go to the CD aisle, and you look at the album covers and
what do you see? Scantily clad women, don't you? And many of the most popular musicians
today are women who are basically dressed immodestly, they're showing off their body,
and basically it's the lust of the eyes that people will gravitate toward that singing
artist because of the way they look, right? Because this beautiful woman, of course she's
exposing herself wickedly to the world, and you can't even walk into a record store today
and look down the aisles of the music without having your eyes defiled with pornographic
images on the covers of these albums. And that's part of the problem right there, the
lust of the eyes. But what about the pride of life? Pride. Think about the way that these
musicians pose for their album covers. You know, and I'll demonstrate some pose for you,
you know. And they're not just smiling or whatever, you know, it's just like. You know,
or maybe they have like a gun or something, you know. It's like a hip-hop, you know, whatever.
Or you know, it's like. You know, whatever the pose, right? Isn't it a prideful image
that's put forth? It's pride. It's glorifying self. You know, doing some kind of a photoshoot,
just glorifying me, look at me, you know, whether male or female, you know. Look at
me and just basically idolize, turning yourself into an idol for people to worship is what
it is. And that's where the posters. And literally today, teenagers lay on their bed at night
with a poster attached to the ceiling above their bed so that they can lay in bed and
look up at their idol. And look up at their, you know, little teeny bopper heartthrob.
You know, teenage girls today have that. Who's the, come on, help me out. Who's the teeny
heartthrob singer? Who is it? Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber? What? Bieber. Justin Bieber,
you know, laying on their back looking up at, oh, Justin Bieber, you know, he's so cute.
Have you ever noticed what happens to these teenage stars, these teenage singers? You
know, the kid's probably going to be on crack in like three years on the cover of, he's
going to be on the cover of some magazine in the grocery store all, you know, just coming
out of rehab for being on crack. That's where they all end up. I mean, maybe you could show
me some rare exception, but these teeny bopper stars and everybody, look, who's the other
one? The Hannah Montana, right? What's her real name? What is it? Miley Cyrus. Thank
you. Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana. Every time I hear it, every time I hear that name, it's
in the news. Oh, she was sending pornographic pictures of herself to some other teeny bopper.
That's what I heard. Who heard that in the news? She's sending pornographic pictures
of herself to some other teeny bopper boy band, and she's posing in indecent positions
and doing all these horrible things, and this today is considered the Disney Channel, you
know, for children, kids. It's safe. I heard this about this little dance, a little Disney
radio station in Southern California. This is safe music for your kids. Yeah, I really
want my daughter to idolize Hannah Montana so she can grow up and send wicked, filthy
pictures of herself out on the internet. We need to wake up as Christians here and understand
that the rulers of the darkness of this world, that Satan and his minions have an agenda
of destroying the morality of our youth and thereby of an entire generation through music.
Through music, they get them to idolize all the wrong people, idolize people who end up
being in the news every week for drunk driving and shoplifting and anorexia nervosa. You
know, they get us to idolize these heroes to pump our mind full of false doctrine, blasphemy,
fornication, adultery, lasciviousness. Those are the works of the flesh, my friend. The
Bible says now the works of the flesh are manacles which are these. Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like of the which I tell
you before as I've also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. Now let me ask you something.
Does this world have the Holy Spirit? Do they have the fruit of the Spirit? No. They have
the works of the flesh. And I'm not going to list them again. Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, that's not what I want to fill my mind with. That's all that's
in the world. Look at verse 16. Did he say, well some of the stuff that's in the world,
some of the stuff that the world puts out, some of the stuff that Hollywood puts out,
some of the stuff that the music industry puts out, watch out because some of it involves
the lust of the flesh. Is that what it says? It says all that's in the world. That's all
they are. That's all they've got. See, we as Christians have the flesh and the Spirit.
If we walk in the Spirit, we'll do the right thing. If we walk in the flesh, we'll commit
sin. We'll do these things. And we all have the flesh with us on a daily basis. But you
see, the world, that's all they've got is the flesh. You know what I mean? And that's
all they've got. Now you say, well Pastor Anderson, you skipped one. You talked about
the lust of the eyes, you talked about the pride of life. What about the lust of the
flesh? You know, the lust of the flesh plays a prominent role in today's music. And you
can notice it in the singing voice used by the performers. And I don't even want to go
into any graphic detail here. You know, I don't even want to, you know, go unclean here
in what I'm saying. But I think you probably know what I'm talking about. When you listen
to the singing today, mainly by female entertainers, but even by male entertainers, they sing in
a way that's a sensual way. They use a sensual singing voice that basically reminds you of
the bedroom. We'll just call it the bedroom voice. And we hear the bedroom voice coming
through the speakers and it's an indecency in the way that they sing. You see, this is
the way a normal person sings. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Now does it sound like I'm
in the bedroom with my wife right now? No. But you know what I'm talking about. I'm not
going to demonstrate the filth that comes across those radio speakers, but if you'll
be having an honest heart, you know what I'm talking about. This getting real close to
the microphone and getting all intimate and singing in a way that is obscene. This is
something that appeals to the lust of the flesh. These female voices that men listen
to and it appeals to the lust of their flesh. But you say, Pastor Anderson, I get it. You
know, the world puts out a lot of garbage. Amen and amen. And you know, the rock and
roll and the, you know, go back to the roots of rock and roll. Where did it come from?
If you look at the pioneers of rock and roll, they were wicked people. Go back to Ray Charles,
heroin addict. Go back to Little Richard, sodomite, homosexual. I mean, these are some
of the pioneers of rock and roll. I mean, going way back. Okay. Go back to the people
like the Beatles, who basically, one of the albums was just John Lennon nude on the cover.
They had to put a sticker over it in the store so that people wouldn't be defiled just
glancing at the album on the shelf in the store. Go back, I mean, you listen to the
Beatles and you think they're wonderful. The Beatles said this, right now we're more popular
than Jesus Christ. They said in 50 years from now, Christianity will be dying, but the Beatles
will still be popular. But you know what? He's probably right, but you know what? In
a hundred years from now or a thousand years from now, the Beatles will be burning in hell
and the meat shall inherit the earth. And Jesus Christ will be really great. But how
would you like to listen to the music of somebody who basically said we're better than Jesus
Christ? Who literally has songs comparing himself to Jesus Christ and talk about himself
being crucified. You know, that's blasphemy, my friend. And these are the type of songs
that the Beatles had. And you say, oh, the Beach Boys. I used to love the Beach Boys.
I grew up listening to the Beach Boys. And you want to talk about a clean cut group in
the early days, right? They have the clean cut button up shirts, smiling, you know, let's
go surfing now. This is all really wholesome and fun, right? Okay, here's the thing. My
parents grew up in L.A., right? So the Beach Boys are huge. I mean, that's where they're
from, L.A. And my parents grew up in L.A. and my dad one time literally dated a girl
one time. He just went on like one date with her or something, just a casual thing. This
girl ended up hanging around the Manson family. You know Charles Manson? Who knows who Charles
Manson is? Okay. Did you know that the drummer of the Beach Boys, who was one of the founding
members, Dennis Wilson, because basically the Beach Boys is like three brothers and
their cousin or like the core of the group. The drummer Dennis Wilson was buddies with
Charles Manson and even the Beach Boys actually brought Charles Manson into their studio.
This is before they found out about all the murders and stuff. They brought Charles Manson
into the studio and recorded some of Charles Manson's music. Did you know that? I mean,
the Beach Boys were recording music in the studio with Charles Manson because they were
going over there and doing drugs with Charles Manson, being a whoremonger and a fornicator
with Charles Manson. And you know, you look at the Beach Boys later on, they got all drugged
out. All of a sudden they got all this real long hair and they're into drugs and they're
worshipping Satan and whatever. And that's probably the most wholesome group you can
think of. And it doesn't sound very wholesome. You see what I'm saying? And so you look at
all the way back to the beginning, rock and roll has always had an agenda to defile and
to basically get you into things that you don't want to get into. But you say, okay
Pastor Anderson, I get it. I get it because, you know, the world is putting out garbage.
That's why I'm going to listen to all Christian music, right? And that's why I'm going to
go to the Christian bookstore and get the Christian rock, the Christian rap, the Christian
hip hop and the Christian country western sound. Now you say, what's wrong with that
Pastor Anderson? Well, I'll tell you what's wrong with it. A couple of things. But first
of all, let me say this. The first thing that's wrong with your music, the first acid test
of your music is where it came from. Because if it came from the world, if it came from
the unsaved, it's going to come from the flesh. And God wants us to sing spiritual songs,
the new song, right? Praises to God. So that right there cuts out the world's music. You
know, we shouldn't be filling our mind with that stuff. It's the wrong spirit. But not
only should we not get our music from the world, look at Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter
number 12. Romans chapter number 12. And by the way, I work in the fire alarm business
and I was basically going around inspecting a ton of fire alarms at day cares. And it's
amazing how even in day cares, where the children are like six months old, a year old, two years
old, they're pumping them with rock music. They're pumping them with, what's this Hispanic
sodomite queer guy? What is it? Ricky what? Ricky Martin. Is that right? Thank you. Ricky
Martin. What are you into? No, I'm just kidding. Ricky Martin. They're playing Ricky Martin.
They're playing Elton John. Both openly homo sodomites. They're playing all this stuff.
They're playing Michael Jackson for him. Say, Oh, don't get on Michael Jackson. Michael
Jackson was a known pedophile. Oh, he was found not guilty. Right. Except you know what
he was found guilty of though? You know what he was found guilty of? Possessing pornography
of children. Okay. That's what he was. That's what he did have in possession, my friend.
That's a fact. Yeah. He was found not guilty because he had multimillion dollar attorneys,
but you know, and that's the way justice works in this country. It's a coin operated justice,
but he was found guilty of being a pervert and a pedophile. I mean, look at the guy.
Give me, is anybody going to actually defend the guy? It's disgusting. And people will
say, Oh, but we love the music. That music is teaching you and you're being taught by
them. And what if I had Michael Jackson, I know he's in hell right now, but what if I
had Michael Jackson come behind this pulpit right now and I said, we have a special guest
speaker today, a guest preacher, and we're going to have Michael Jackson teach us the
Bible today. We're going to have him teach on, uh, you know, what's right. You would
flip out. You'd say, we don't want to be taught by Michael Jackson. You'd look at him and
go, you know, just for looking at him because he's so mutilated himself and you would be
disgusted. Anybody in here would walk out of a church. If you were in a church and Michael
Jackson got that, but what you don't understand is that when you put in his CD, he's teaching
and admonishing you. You say, well, but not in the house of God. Hey, your body's the
temple of the Holy Spirit. You know what I mean? Don't bring Michael Jackson's music
into your temple. Would you bring a Michael Jackson CD into God's holy temple? You know,
and yet you're pumping it into the temple when you put it in their headphones. Okay.
Where did I return? I'm sorry. Romans 12. The first acid test of our music is the first
John chapter two test. Is it of the father or is it of the world? Right? Did it come
from God's people or did it come from this world? But here's the second test of our music.
It says in Romans 12 one, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service
and watch this next verse, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God. The second test for our music is, the first test was, is it of the world? The
second test should be, is it conformed to the world? Is it conformed to the world? Our
music should not be the music of people who are saved Christians, but trying to copy the
style of the world. I mean, today, Christian artists, all they are is like a lame version
of the world's music plus Jesus, like a low budget, you know, it's a low budget Metallica
that mentions Jesus. And today we have Christian artists where if you walked in to the Christian
bookstore, you can look right at them and tell exactly who they are trying to copy.
Oh, they are trying to look like this Metallica album. Oh, that's supposed to look like Snoop
Dogg. Oh, that looks exactly like Garth Brooks. And you can tell who they are copying. Because
what they are trying to do, they are trying to take young people, and here's a young person
right here, let's say I say to this young person, Chris, you need to stop listening
to Dr. Dre, Chris. You need to get off of Snoop Dogg and Public Enemy. You need to get
off of Eazy-E. He died of AIDS. So here, Chris, let me make this easy for you. I'm
going to take Eazy-E, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, and Body Count from you, and I'm going to
give you Christian rap. But I'm not going to give it to you, I'm going to sell it to
you. So let's take all your bad music and let's throw it in the trash, right? And then
here is $17.99 a CD. Where are you going to be paying by cash, check, or credit card
today? So basically what it is, is it's a money maker. The love of money is the root
of all evil, my friend. And there is a huge money making industry today of making Christian
music that's exactly like the world's garbage, just Christianized and sanitized for your
protection. And basically getting the young people preaching to them that the world's
music is bad. Oh, but get this Christian music and buy this and listen to that. First
of all, I don't listen to any music. I'd rather sing praises to God than to listen to music.
But here's the thing. The music today that's patterned after the world is violating this
scripture. It's conformed to this world. Why would I want to listen to some Christian that's
so backslidden that they're listening to hundreds of hours of Metallica in order to copy their
sound? Because if you look at these Christian artists, and again, I'm going back to when
I was a teenager. DC Talk, you know, was the big one when I was a kid. You look at DC Talk,
you look at, somebody help me out here. Man, it's been a long time. What? Striper. That's
before my time. Man. I'm not that old. You go back and look at them. You can literally
go to these Christian groups' websites and they'll list influences. And it'll be like
Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne. I mean, they'll list the wicked satanic groups that are openly
satanic and list them as that's who influenced our music. That's where we get our sound.
And they'll even put it on a sticker in the Christian music store. Hey, if you love AC
DC and Metallica and Black Sabbath, you're going to love this group. And that's how they
advertise it. I mean, DC Talk, which was the number one group when I was a teenager, at
least in California, I mean, it was huge. When DC Talk was out and they had their album
Jesus Freak. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Their big album Jesus Freak by DC Talk. They
made a music video for DC Talk Jesus Freak and they used the producer of Nine Inch Nails
video closer. And here's what they said. We just loved the Nine Inch Nails video closer,
which is the most blasphemous, filthy, imaginable music that's just openly blaspheming God,
filthy, disgusting sodomite song that I won't even begin to even tell you about that I've
had the misfortune of hearing as a teenager at school of all places. They watched this
disgusting satanic, wicked video and said, we liked it so much, we got the producer of
that video to produce our Christian Jesus Freak video. Do you see how this music industry
of the Christian contemporary music and Christian rock, Christian rap is just trying to pattern
itself after the world? They're trying to sound as much like the world as possible because
they know that's what the world likes. That's what the flesh wants. And so they try to emulate
it. Our music should not be conformed to this world. Now you say, Pastor Anderson, I don't
think all of it's conformed to this world. Well, here's the problem. If music today is
not conformed to the world, it won't be popular. Period. I'm going to show you that in the
Bible. Look at John chapter 15. If today's contemporary music were not conformed to the
world, if it were actually songs and hymns and spiritual songs, if it was actually music
that honored the Lord Jesus Christ, it would not be popular. And I'll show you why it wouldn't
be popular. Look at John chapter 15. Because John chapter 15 says this in verse 17. These
things I command you that you love one another. Everybody in John 15, look at verse 18. If
the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the
world, the world would love his own. Do you see how to make music that people are going
to like? Do you see how to be a great Christian rock star that everybody's going to love?
All you've got to do is be like the world. Because if you're of the world, the world's
going to love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world loves you anyway. Is that what it says? No, it says
therefore the world hates you. He said I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. Verse 20. Remember the word that I said unto you. The servant is
not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, did they persecute Jesus? Absolutely.
He says if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying,
they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake because
they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not
had sin. But now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.
And that says if I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had
not had sin, but now they will have seen and hated both me and my Father. Isn't it, look
at how many times it says over and over, hate. He says in verse 25, but this cometh the fast
that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause.
So how many times did Jesus say, hey look, the world hates me. The world has hated me.
The world has persecuted me. Because I'm not of the world. Jesus said this a little bit
earlier in the book. He said, he was talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Jews.
He said, I am of this world. He said, you are of this world, I am not of this world.
He said, I'm from above, you're from beneath. He said, therefore you shall die in your sins.
He said, because if you believe not, did you get that? If you believe not, that's how you
be saved by believing, right? He said, if you believe not that I am he, you shall die
in your sins. So over and over he says, look, the world has hated me. He said, the world
will hate you if you're following me. He said, I am the master, you are the servant. And
he said, hey, the servant is not better than the master, right? Is any of us better than
Jesus Christ? No way. And he said, you're not better than me, and if they hated me,
they will definitely hate you. He said, if they called the master of the house Beelzebub,
Jesus was talking about himself, because they called Jesus Beelzebub. He said, if they called
the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
He's basically saying, they're going to hate you more than they hated me. And yet today
these Christian rock stars are popular among the world. Why? Because they pattern themselves,
the way they look is to try to look like the world. They try to talk like the world, they
dress like the world, they act like the world, and the words that come out of their mouth
are tailored and trimmed to not offend this world. You see, the problem with Christian
contemporary music today is that it doesn't teach you anything. It doesn't admonish you
anything. If you read the book of Psalms, we have 150 Psalms, and did you know that
the Psalms are one of the most controversial parts of the Bible? Did you know that? I mean,
you want to end up on CNN as a hate preacher? You know, start preaching out of the book
of Psalms, and you'll be there. Because let me tell you something, the book of Psalms
is some of the most doctrinally dense, I mean, when you're reading the New Testament, you
know what Jesus is quoting the most? And what the apostles are quoting the most? The book
of Psalms. Have you noticed that? Constantly, the apostles, Jesus, they're quoting Psalms,
they're quoting Psalms, they're quoting Psalms. Because Psalms is filled with doctrine, and
it has some of the most controversial passages in it. Some of the passages that would make
this world the most uncomfortable are found in the book of Psalms. That was the music
that they sang. Because music has a purpose to teach doctrine. Doctrine means teaching.
But today's Christian contemporary music, Christian rock, Christian praise and worship
type of a style, genre, is devoid of biblical doctrine. The musical sound is copying the
sound of rock and rap and reggae of this world. And the words have been removed of all biblical
doctrine. Because here's the problem. If they started getting down to brass tacks doctrinally
in their songs, the world would not accept it. I mean, what if they had a song that just
said, salvation you only have to believe on Jesus Christ and you can never lose your salvation.
How many denominations are going to be into that music? Now that's the gospel, isn't it?
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. How many denominations?
They're going to the Pentecostals because they believe you can lose it. They believe
you can lose your salvation. They don't think it's depart from me I never knew you, like
the Bible says, they think it's depart from me I used to know you. They don't think it's
you must be born again, they think it's you must be born again and again and again and
again. They don't believe I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. They believe I give unto them temporary
life and they might perish and somebody might pluck them out of my hand. So as soon as you
start having a song that makes the gospel clear that it's all faith, not of works, you
just lost the Roman Catholics. What if you have a song that exalts Jesus Christ as God
in the flesh? Well now you just lost the JFWs and the Mormons and these other cults
that believe that Jesus is not God. You see what I'm saying? Pick any doctrine you want,
the Bible always divides. The Bible is a dividing book because it divides from those who believe
the truth to those who don't believe the truth. Jesus said, think not that I'm come to send
peace on earth, I came not to bring peace but division. The Bible says there was a division
among the people because of his name, because of his sake. And so the bottom line is that
if music put out by these Christian contemporary artists actually preached clear doctrine or
took a stand on anything, well guess what, they just lost a lot of their market and what
is their goal? To make money. To make money. That's why you have to pay 30 bucks at the
door to get in here. I mean don't they just want to praise God at these churches? I mean
they come to a church and sing praises to God but you have to pay to get in at these
concerts that are held at these mega churches. You have to pay to get in. Who's ever been
to a Christian rock concert? I have when I was a teenager. Who's been to a Christian
rock concert? Was it free? How much did you pay? Do you remember approximately? 10 bucks,
20 bucks. And that was back then. Now it's probably even more. But yeah you paid 10 bucks,
20 bucks, 30 bucks. I mean it was just like going to a typical rock concert. You paid
a pretty substantial amount. Probably 10 bucks or 20 bucks was the usual, maybe 15. But it's
about the money. So if your desire is to make money, if you're running a business, your
goal is to have as many customers as possible. And when you start hitting on specific doctrines,
right, you're going to start losing people. So what do you got to do? Keep it all really
vague. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above. Does anyone disagree with
the fact that God's awesome? Oh that goes in the face of my denomination. God is not
an awesome God. See they purposely make the music just so vague, God's awesome. But they
won't tell you doctrine. I mean look at the book of Psalms. It's so clear doctrine. It's
talking about salvation, it's talking about heaven, it's talking about hell, it's talking
about all these different things. When was the last time you heard a Christian song about
hell? That's not the big theme in Christian contemporary music. I'm sure you can dig one
out somewhere about hell. And if so, it's probably making a mockery of hell or downplaying
hell if you can find a Christian song about hell. But you go to the Christian contemporary,
but yeah you find songs that deal with hell. You know what I mean? And so the bottom line
is that the Christian contemporary music of this world is a copycat of the world's music
and then they've just stripped it from all doctrines so that it's not teaching you, it's
not admonishing you. Now I'm running out of time, but compare that to our hymnal of the
songs that we sing. There's about what, 500 songs in here? 450 songs in here? These songs
are filled with doctrine, they're doctrinally accurate, they teach the Bible. Did anybody
walk in this morning and confuse this with Dr. Grey or Eminem or the Backstreet Boys
or Lady Gaga? No. You knew right away that it was people singing in church. And all these
songs are not the same. There are different styles within this hymnal. There are different
ways that the music is sung. There's a lot of musical variety in the hymnal. But what
you're not going to find is music in here that sounds like the world. And what you're
not going to find is these praise and worship choruses where you repeat the same sentence
500 times. One more time, our God is an awesome God. And it's just trying to make it feel
like a rock concert. Our God is an awesome God. And another thing you're not going to
find in this church is people getting up here and singing special solos, period. But nobody
sings a solo, we sing in the congregation, right? We all sing. Nothing more boring than
listening to special music in church. But we come to church and sing. But most of the
time, when you do have the soloists and the duets and the quartets, they get up and they
copy that sensual singing voice, that bedroom voice. And many fundamental Baptist churches
today, they'll think, well, we don't have worldly music, you know, because we don't
have drums. That's what they'll say. We don't have drums. I was at a church and I said,
I said, I can't go to this church anymore. I said, this music is just ridiculous. Because
you had all these guys getting up and they were effeminate as hell, these effeminate
little guys getting up there. And they would get up and close their eyes and just sing
in this sensual voice. And it was disgusting. They're closing their eyes and getting all
intimate with the microphone. And I felt defiled even being in the auditorium. And then you'd
have women get up there and they're wiggling and wailing up there. And I said, I can't
go to this church. I said, this music is worldly. And then you know what the pastor said? We
don't have drums. I'm thinking like, that's not the problem, my friend. You know, okay,
thank you for not having drums. You know, but I feel like my eardrums have been defiled
up here, you know, from this beat. I feel like it's unclean to even be here. I feel
indecent even listening to this stuff because of the way the singing was. And because of
the style of the music. And because it was coming straight out of the world. And so our
church strives to have music that is not like the world. Because our goal is to be different
from the world. Not to try to copy the world so we can kind of ease people in, you know.
Just kind of like, maybe he won't notice. You know, he's got like his Metallica CD or
whatever, just kind of like, you got to do a little switcheroo, you know. And it's like,
yeah, you know, Jesus. You know, he's like, what? He probably wouldn't even notice because
I'm sure Metallica sings about Jesus too. They're probably screaming and blaspheming
him. And then you can get one that screams Jesus saves. But you know what, either way,
that's not helping you grow spiritually. You're just falling into the trap of being conformed
to this world. God says be transformed, not conformed to this world. Be different. He
said, I want you to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works, singing and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that teach you something. That help
you grow in the Lord. And so again, I encourage you, if you don't have one of these hymnals,
you know, or maybe you have a different hymnal at home that's a hymnal of good Bible hymns,
take one of these home, it's free, because this music should be a part of your life.
Not the garbage that the world's putting out, or that the Christian bookstore so-called
is selling. That's why I always have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for
your word, dear God, and please just help it to sink down into our ears. Help us to
sing the new song to praise you, and help us not be conformed to the world or pattern
ourselves after truly wicked people that are running the music industry, dear God. Help
us to be filled with the Spirit, reading our Bibles daily and singing hymns and praises
to you, dear God, that are not a money-making industry of copying the world, but rather
that actually came from the heart of people who loved you. And in Jesus' name we pray,
amen.