MELODY IN OUR HEARTS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 24, 2023 under 2023 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message from September 24, 2023 from Ephesians 5:19

Theme: The filling of the Holy Spirit reveals itself in us through joyful singing to the Lord.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Imagine Paul and Silas, two faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, sitting in a dark prison cell, not knowing whether they will live or die!

And it all seemed to happen so quickly!

It all started when, in obedience to the Lord’s call, they made their way to the ancient city of Philippi—a very important and prominent Roman colony—to proclaim the gospel. Once they arrived, they watched and waited for the Lord’s direction. At that time, there wasn’t a Jewish synagogue in town in which to preach. So they wondered how the Holy Spirit wanted them to begin sharing the good news of Jesus. Who in the city should they start talking to?

When the Sabbath day came, they found a group of women by the riverside—gathering for customary prayers. And so; they went and simply started sharing the good news with them. One of them was a wealthy businesswoman named Lydia. She believed and was baptized—along with her whole household. She even opened up her home as a base of operations for reaching the rest of the city with the gospel. This seemed like a great start. They would have thought that this, surely, was how the Holy Spirit was leading them to reach the city of Philippi.

Just a short while later, they were going back out to meet for prayer; and they encountered a demon-possessed girl. She was a slave girl who told fortunes under the power of evil spirits. She kept following along behind Paul and Silas; shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” This deeply troubled Paul. It’s not acceptable that evil spirits should tamper with the declaration of the gospel. So Paul turned and commanded the evil spirits to come out of her. And she was instantly delivered. This seemed like even more progress. They would have thought that God was really at work!

But that was when things suddenly got very hard … and very fast. The masters of that slave girl—who had been making their fortune off of her false prophecies—were outraged that she had been delivered of the evil spirits. They seized the two missionaries, dragged them to court, and made false accusations against them—claiming that they were a threat to the Roman customs and to the well-being of the city. And the next thing Paul and Silas knew, they were beaten viciously with rods, were shackled painfully with chains, and were thrown into a prison cell—with the command from the authorities that they be kept securely. All around them, they might have heard the sounds of other prisoners groaning, cursing, and weeping. They might have smelled the stench and shivered in the cold. It was a far cry from the comforts of Lydia’s house. They honestly didn’t know what would happen next. Because of the fierceness with which they were arrested and imprisoned, they may have even wondered if they were about to be executed.

Now I ask you, dear brothers and sisters; what might you or I have done in a dismal situation like that? Well; consider what these two missionaries did. Acts 16:25 tells us;

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25).

They weren’t just singing ditties to pass the time. They were experiencing a sense of joy and peace that came from the Holy Spirit; and they were giving expression to the Spirit’s work in them by praying and singing hymns of worship—even in the midst of such dire circumstances. They felt the prompting of the Spirit to sing; and they obeyed the Spirit’s prompting. And as a result, God was bearing witness to Himself through them to the other prisoners.

And things changed very quickly … again! A great earthquake miraculously occurred, and all the prison doors swung open, and all the chains fell off. The jail-keeper—who would have been held accountable if any of his prisoners escaped—was afraid that they all ran out. He was about to do himself harm. But Paul and Silas shouted to him to stop. Everyone was still there. And that jailer—who must have heard those two missionaries singing hymns to the Lord in the night—fell before them and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they told him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And he—and his whole household believed and were baptized.

Clearly, God was very much at work in those hard circumstances. And He worked through His servants who gave expression to the confident joy of the Holy Spirit through singing and praise. In fact, their songs in the night seem to have marked the turning point in the story.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; I suspect that Paul had the memory of that remarkable experience in mind when he wrote the words of our passage in Ephesians 5 that we’ve been studying. He had been writing to his brothers and sisters in Christ about how to ‘walk’—that is, how to conduct their daily lives—in a manner worthy of the calling of the Lord Jesus. And in Ephesians 5:18-21, he told them;

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God (Ephesians 5:18-21).

When, as Jesus’ followers, we’re completely given over to the influence of the Holy Spirit—when we’re truly filled with the Spirit in a prevailing and pervasive way—one of the things we experience is an uplifting happiness. He enables us to experience peace and joy in the midst of difficult circumstances of life—and in a way that nothing else in this world can make happen. As this passage shows us, that joy and happiness shows itself in three ways. It shows itself in a constant, continual thankfulness to God the Father. It also shows itself in a humble and willing submission to others in the various relationships God puts us in toward them. And—as the first thing on the list—it shows itself in a joyful expression of worship to God through singing and making melody in our hearts before Him.

And that first thing is what I ask that we focus on today. As verse 19, shows us, the filling of the Holy Spirit reveals itself in us through joyful singing to the Lord; so that, in the circumstances of life, we find that we’re naturally and automatically “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; I had an interesting conversation with a group of local pastors earlier this week. We meet once a month to pray for one another and—as it just so happens—to also sing hymns together. And during our meeting the other day—since I was in the midst of a group of spiritually-minded men of God who were singing hymns—I asked them about this verse. I read Ephesians 5:19 to them in the context of the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit; and I asked them, “How do you all understand this verse about ‘singing’ and ‘making melody in our hearts to the Lord’? Do you see it as a command to be obeyed as we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, or as a result to be enjoyed from being filled with the Holy Spirit?”

One good brother-pastor—who is knowledgeable in the original language of the New Testament—reminded us that the words, “be filled with the Holy Spirit” constitute a command to be obeyed. We’re being told in this passage to continually, ongoingly allow ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And grammatically speaking, everything that follows immediately after that command is to be taken as a part of that command. He said that, in verse 19, we’re therefore being commanded to give expression to the Holy Spirit’s work in us by singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. And with that interpretation, we all wholeheartedly agreed.

But another good brother-pastor—who happened to be leading us in song that morning—said that he believed both things were true. When we face the trials and difficulties of life, we are commanded to yield ourselves to the filling of the Holy Spirit by opening our mouths and singing praises to the Lord as an act of obedience. But at the same time, when the Spirit of Jesus fills us and empowers us, we find that He also gives us the desire to open our mouths and sing praises to the Lord. Obeying the command to open our mouths and sing then comes naturally, and it becomes a command that we almost can’t help but obey. And with that interpretation we also all wholeheartedly agreed. (And then, we sang some more hymns!)

And all of this reminded me of a discovery I’ve been making lately about this whole matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because it is a command to be obeyed regularly, I’ve been finding that the Holy Spirit Himself often has to remind me to obey it; and that the obedience often involves some effort on my part before I will begin to experience the results.

Dear brothers and sisters; I would sincerely like to tell you that I am constantly, continually under the Holy Spirit’s control. But there are many times when frustrating or difficult circumstances come along; and I discover that I’d been caught trying to operate on my own power and resources. It shows itself in my becoming irritated because of the circumstances, or short-tempered, or grumpy (the kind of things that are the opposite of joyfully singing). I sometimes find myself falling into despair or frustration or even fearfulness over the circumstances. And during those times, I often hear the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to me and saying something like this: “Child of Mine; you are not submitting to Me. You are not yielding to Me in such a way as to let Me have control of your heart. You’re forgetting My presence in you. Obey the command to let Me fill you with Myself, and to empower you, and to produce My fruit in your life.” And when that happens, I find that—to some degree—I have to ‘wrestle my will to the ground’ and let the Holy Spirit fill me and have rule over me. I find that it takes a little time for me to come around. But eventually, I yield and submit myself to Him.

And I think that the same kind of thing is true with this particular aspect of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I may not feel like obeying the command to open my mouth and singing praises to the Lord in moments of trial. I’d much rather open my mouth and complain. And sometimes I do. But as soon as I repent of that attitude, and tell the Lord I’m sorry, and open my mouth to quote from the Psalms, or sing a hymn, or offer a song of praise to Him—even if it’s from out of no other motivation than sheer obedience—I find that my heart begins to change. It’s as if the Holy Spirit finally has me where He wants me to be. He begins to give me that ‘melody in my heart’; and I begin to sing—no longer from just out of mere obedience—but now, from out of a sincere love and gratitude to Him.

* * * * * * * * *

Now; this whole idea of ‘making melody in our hearts to the Lord’ isn’t something for just anyone. It’s something that could only apply to someone who has first placed a sincere faith in the cross of Jesus, and has been washed clean of their sins, and has truly been ‘born again’. That’s because the Holy Spirit takes up residence only in those who have a relationship by faith with Jesus. It’s not possible for anyone else to be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ but those who have been redeemed by faith in His blood. I sincerely hope you have done so.

But for those of us who have done so—and who have been born again and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit—let’s look a little closer at what we’re told in Ephesians 5:19. Notice first that it tells us …

1. WHAT WE’RE TO DO.

As a product of being filled with the Holy Spirit, we’re to be “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs …” The Holy Spirit prompts us to ‘make melody in our hearts’ to one another as believers.

We can see this very clearly in another verse—in Colossians 3:16. The apostle Paul wrote Colossians about the same time as he wrote Ephesians; and those two books of the Bible say many of the same kinds of things as each other. And in Colossians 3:16, Paul wrote;

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 (Colossians 3:16).

Isn’t it interesting that the results of being filled with the Holy Spirit are presented to us as being the same as letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly? That’s because the Holy Spirit works in us through the teaching and instruction of the Scriptures. And the impact that we’re to have upon one another—as a result—is that we ‘teach’ and ‘admonish’ one another from what the Scriptures say. We need to be opening our mouths and singing with one another as part of the way the Holy Spirit uses us in each other’s life to teach one another, and encourage one another, and instruct one another in how to walk with the Lord Jesus from His word.

And I appreciate what one of my brother-pastors said the other day about this; that this requires that we must be regularly meeting with one another in person, and building into one another’s lives in a personal way. We must be together in order to be speaking to one another from what the Bible teaches.

So then; as we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, we’re to be speaking the word of God to one another in the context of mutual joy. And notice next …

2. HOW WE’RE TO DO IT.

Paul wrote that we’re to be “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs …” We’re to be joining our hearts together and ministering biblical instruction and admonition to one another through forms of music.

First, Paul mentioned “psalms”. That’s a word that’s taken from Hebrew; and it means ‘to touch the chords’ or ‘strike the strings’. It’s a word that sounds like strumming the strings of an instrument—’ps-s-s-salm-m-m-m-m’. It’s a figure of speech for a song that is sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument. This would make us think, right away, of the Book of Psalms; which are the lyrics to songs that were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for the benefit of corporate worship.

Then, Paul mentions “hymns”. That’s a name that the Bible gives to songs that are sung with a special emphasis on offering praise to God in some way. A form of this word—hymneō—was used to describe what Paul and Silas were doing in prison; that is, they were singing hymns of praise to the Lord. The history of the church has given us a rich heritage of hymns to sing. Many scholars even believe that some portions of the hymns of the ancient Christian church are contained in the pages of Scripture. Paul may have been quoting from one of them just a few verses earlier—in Ephesians 5:14—when he wrote;

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14).

Or you can think of 1 Timothy 3:16; when Paul may have been quoting from an ancient church hymn when he wrote;

God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory (1 Timothy 3:16).

And finally, Paul mentions “spiritual songs”. The word in Greek for “songs” is the one from which we get the English word ‘ode’. There are lots of ‘odes’ in the history of the world—and ‘ode’ to this, or an ‘ode’ to that. Many of them are rather crude; songs that speak of worldly passions and ideas. But what Paul was speaking of were “spiritual” odes. They’re songs that a believer would sing to emphasize and celebrate the themes of the Christian faith.

Now; there may not be a lot of difference intended between these different forms of sacred music. But perhaps Paul mentions them all together, in this way, in order to urge us to enjoy and use all forms of sacred music. They are what the Holy Spirit has given us as the means by which we lift our hearts together up toward Him. I certainly have that experience often. I may find myself out of sorts in my spirit in some way; but whenever I sing one of the old hymns of the faith—such as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” or “He Giveth More Grace” or “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” or “His Eye Is on The Sparrow”—my spirit is uplifted. This is especially true whenever I can sing them with my fellow believers.

By the way; if you ever see a good hymnbook in a used bookstore or a garage sale, grab it! And especially if it’s an old one that has the great old traditional hymns of the faith—the ones that turn our attention away from ‘self’ and onto the Lord—the ones that speak of His majesty and character. Few things will lift your spirit quite like learning and singing those old hymns as a habit of life.

And that leads us next to consider …

3. WHY WE’RE TO DO IT.

Paul wrote that we’re to be, “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord …” This is all put in the plural in the original language. It’s meant to be the act by which we—all together as a group of believers—give expression to the fruit of joy that the Holy Spirit is producing in our heart (singular). It unifies us. The famous pastor of the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards, used to remind his church family that they’re destined to be united with all believers in heavenly glory—praising God forever. And so, uniting their voices together in song—and declaring together one single theme of praise to God—is the closest thing they can experience to heaven on earth. No wonder the Holy Spirit leads us and empowers us to do it!

And it must not be kept silent within us as individuals. It’s meant to be outwardly expressed; because it’s our way of returning back to the Lord what He is giving us in our hearts. This reminds me of a very interesting verse in the Book of James. Pastor James wrote to the people under his care and told them—in James 5:13;

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms (James 5:13).

It might seem like a strange thing to say; doesn’t it? Shouldn’t it be obvious that if we are suffering we should pray, or that if we’re cheerful we should sing psalms? But no; it’s not always obvious. Sometimes, we need to be reminded to give reverent and worshipful expression—in a God-ward direction—to the things we’re feeling and the experiences we’re going through. It keeps our Lord in the forefront of our thinking. It’s a part of what it means to be ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit.

And notice just a couple of other details about Paul’s exhortation to be speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Notice …

4. FROM WHERE WE’RE TO DO IT.

Paul wrote that we’re to be singing and making melody “in your heart”. This is speaking of the sincerity before God with which we’re to be doing it. It’s not for mere outward performance; but from out of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It’s to be ‘in our hearts’—that is, from out of the fullness of the sincerity of our inward being. He wants it to be real.

The Bible warns us that God is not pleased with outward forms of worship—even dazzlingly beautiful performances—when the heart isn’t right and while there is sin going on within us. In Amos 5, He gave a stern warning through the prophet;

“I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21-24).

That’s not to say that we must be perfect when we sing in worship. If that were so, then we would never dare to open our mouths to sing at all! Rather, it is to say that God wants sincerity from us. He wants us to ‘sing and make melody in our heart’ in such a way that it represents an honest outward expression of a genuine work of the Holy Spirit within us.

And finally—and most importantly—notice …

5. UNTO WHOM WE’RE TO DO IT.

Paul writes, “ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord …” May it always be to Him and for His praise!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; before we end our time, let me share with you one more story. It’s the story of our Lord’s final night with His disciples—just before going to the cross for us.

It was a solemn night. It was the night in which He would be betrayed, and then be arrested, and then be tried, and then be beaten, and then be crucified. It was the night before He bore the sins of all mankind upon Himself and paid the death penalty for our sins on our behalf. It was the night before He would cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” as He bore our guilt. On that important night, we’re told that He broke bread with His disciples—telling them, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And we’re told that He also took the cup and gave thanks and said, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.” It was a solemn night; but He knew what was ahead—and He knew what the outcome of it all would be.

How then would He spend His final moments with His disciples before He was taken away to die for them? What, in that crucial moment, would be His final corporate act with them? In Mark 14:24, we’re told this:

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:24).

And if that was our Lord’s final act with His disciples before He went to die for them, how much more would His Holy Spirit move us to sing together now that our Lord has accomplished everything for us?

So, dear brothers and sisters; let’s obey the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit … and let’s allow Him to produce in us the joy He wants to exhibit in us; “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”.

AE