ARE YOU TALKING TO YOURSELF?
Wednesday – March 1, 2017
Can each of us say along with this camel that we love Jesus? Do we really love Jesus or it just something you are supposed to say in Church and around other believers? What do we mean when we say we love Jesus? Do we have Bible love for Jesus or is it the same touchy feely love that we have for things of the world?
1 John 2:15-17 (KJV)
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.
16 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.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
John 14:21 (KJV)
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Do we want the manifestation of God in our lives?
Please check out my new books displayed at the end of this teaching. Now, I will return to our Bible Study text in Ephesians.
Ephesians 5:18-20 (KJV)
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
The Apostle Paul has just been through a list of sins in the Church then and in the Church now. He was not addressing unsaved people in the Church but those who say they are of Christ. Now the Apostle has pivoted to desirable, Godly behavior. Remember he started off by telling us to quit wasting time (redeeming the time), to get in line with the will of God, quit getting drunk with alcoholic beverages, and be filled with the Spirit. Sounds like it would get most of us off to a real good start in the Kingdom of God. Many people make fun of people who talk to themselves but we find right here in Scripture a command to talk to ourselves so we can respond that it is the will of God for me. Like everything else that comes out of our mouth we are given guidance here as well. We are to speak to ourselves in ‘psalms’ or could we say the Word of God. Churches today sing all kinds of blasphemous things filled with unbelief bringing faith to zero resulting in a defeated Church and defeated individuals in that Church.
Test every song by Scripture! Just because it is old doesn’t make it right. Stick to Scripture, we are not singing to feel good but to renew our minds to the Word of God and express our devotion of love and faith to our Savior and Father. There are one-hundred and fifty Psalms, when you finish or become bored there seek to understand what you are singing, and when that is accomplished move to other Scripture. Sing the Truth and nothing else. Next the Apostle by the leadership of the Holy Spirit tells us to speak and sing hymns. Look at how this word ‘hymn’ is defined by The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament: A song or hymn in honor of God. Whereas a psalm is the story of man’s deliverance or a commemoration of mercies received, a hymn is a magnificat, a declaration of how great someone or something is, it is a direct address of praise and glory to God. According to Augustine a hymn has three characteristics: It must be sung; it must be praise; it must be to God. The word “hymn” nowhere occurs in the writings of the apostolic fathers because it was used as a praise to heathen deities and thus the early Christians instinctively shrank from it.
As you think about this you may conclude the speaking and singing Psalms is thanksgiving to a great extent and speaking and singings hymns is praise. Next the Apostle tells us to speak and sing spiritual songs. Remember to keep this and really the interpretation of all Scripture in the context it appears. That is to say we cannot ignore the verses even the chapter(s) that come before and after in the proper interpretation of any given verse or passage. In this case we have just been talking about being filled with the Spirit of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the speaking of other tongues as the same Spirit gives utterance (supplies the words). Certainly the Psalms and hymns already mentioned could also be lumped into a category we could call spiritual songs. Here I believe the Apostle is talking about speaking and singing in other tongues (a language unknown to the speaker but perhaps known to other persons and definitely known to God).
1 Corinthians 14:15 (KJV)
15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Singing with the Spirit sounds a lot like speaking and singing spiritual songs and singing with the understanding certainly sounds a lot like speaking and singing Psalms and hymns. The word ‘heart’ in Ephesians 5:19 is a part of our soul, it is the entry point, the place where the decision is made to accept or reject any and all information. What will I choose? And finally our verse ends telling us it is all “to the Lord”. We are thanking the Lord, we are praising the Lord, and we are speaking the desires of God’s heart by spiritual songs.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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