You
Tonight, since the subject is on music, we are going to start with a song.
And I'd like you to turn to the song, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
This is song number 334, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,
Do Thy heart to sing Thy praise, Sing of mercy and mercy, Sing of our songs of love and praise,
Teach me ever to adore Thee, may I still Thy goodness grow, Come Thou Fount of Love in this world,
Build my heart with joy and love, Hear our praise, glory, and leisure,
Build my heart with joy and love, Hear our praise, glory, and leisure, Sing of our songs of love and praise,
Teach us all, dear, with a stranger, God may come, love of the Lord,
Teach us all, dear, with a stranger, God may come, love of the Lord,
And my ear is like a letter, writing all those letters to me.
Not to wonder, Lord, I hear them, from today in God all I know.
There's my heart, I can see it all, see the glory God pours upon.
We choose to eat or overeat have an effect upon the mind, and so they make up our mind.
And also, it's called making up your mind because we as Christians have decisions to make.
And an ultimate decision, whether we will live for Christ or live for this world.
As a review, we saw that there are different types of music.
The thing that we looked at was the syncopation and rhythm, which is when a stress is on a beat that is normally unstressed.
The natural rhythms of the body are on the one, three time.
So it's one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.
Stress is on the first beat, and stress is on the third beat.
And there's a greater stress on the first as compared to the third.
The syncopated beat is any sort of rhythm that puts a stress on a normally unstressed beat,
whether it's the second beat, the fourth beat, the third beat, or even on a, I believe it's an upper beat instead of a down beat.
There's many, many different forms of that.
And as we mentioned, that's the most simple way you can look at music because there's so much more to it.
There's many different rhythms, polyrhythms, and other types of rhythm.
But what we looked at, we looked at the syncopation, which is what rock music is based upon.
And we saw how that affected the mind of these mice that they were doing tests on,
and how it actually caused a shrinking of the frontal lobe of the brain.
And we saw how the frontal lobe is the area of the brain where we have judgment, reasoning.
Basically our spiritual morality is in the frontal lobe.
And the lower part of our mind, the animal passions, the lower nature, is the midbrain, the limbic area,
where the feelings of pleasure, pain, which are not necessarily evil, but they need to be under control of the higher powers.
And so we saw how music is able to bypass the frontal lobe and affect the emotions and the feelings
without the mind critically analyzing the information.
So with that review, let's start with prayer now before we get into the part two of making up your mind.
Eternal Father in Heaven, our Father, you are the creator of music.
You've designed our minds to appreciate the things that are pure and true and holy.
Father, you've designed us to respond to music, Father, in a certain way, Lord.
Father, in this sinful, fallen world, Satan, who has been studying humanity for 6,000 years,
has discerned very early in history how to affect the mind through music.
Father, we pray for your Holy Spirit to be present with us, Father,
and we cover some things that are very weighty.
Lord, this is a personal subject to some, Father, and we just pray that we will be open to your leading
to the word of your testimony and to the word of truth in the Scriptures.
Father, bless us as we humbly receive from you these words.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Okay, well, you may have heard of the term Christian contemporary music,
and I went to Wikipedia to find a definition because I wanted something, I guess, somewhat neutral.
So this comes from whoever decided to come up with this definition.
It says that contemporary Christian music first came onto the scene of popular music
during the Jesus' movement revival of the late 60s and early 70s.
About that time, and this is a quote here,
about that time, many young people from the 60s counterculture professed to believe in Jesus.
Convinced of the bareness of a lifestyle based on drugs, free sex, and radical politicals,
hippies became Jesus' people, I guess they were also called Jesus' freaks.
Of course, there were people who felt like Jesus was another trip.
It can be assumed that many people took it seriously and revivals sprang forth.
That's interesting, revivals.
At the very end, we're going to look at something on the revivals.
It says when such awakenings happened, new music became popular.
The Jesus' movement of the 70s was when things really started changing
and Christian music began to become an industry within itself.
The hippies created the Jesus' movement by playing their instruments about love and peace,
which then translated into the love of God.
Paul Wolegomoth, who wrote the book Rethinking the Church, said,
The 1970s will see a marked acceptance of rock-influenced music in all levels of church music.
The rock style will become more familiar to all people.
Its rhythmic excesses will become refined,
and its earlier secular associations will be less remembered.
Now, how true is that?
He was basically saying that hippies became more cultured with their music and less rebellious.
When they became more cultured, they started focusing on God.
That's under contemporary Christian music on the Wikipedia site.
Another website I looked at said that the name was coined
in order to distinguish this particular style of music
from the more traditional forms of religious music.
The word contemporary has proven to be an appropriate description of this music
over the last 20 years, as the styles have kept up with its secular counterpart.
Now, often, if you look at a CD of the Christian contemporary artists,
or the reviews, rather, it describes, it says,
this group sounds like, and then they will list a secular band,
whether it's a rock music alternative, grunge, punk.
They will list certain secular bands that this particular music sounds like.
And yet the word of God tells us, in James chapter 4 verse 4,
ye adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God,
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
That's James 4-4.
It's very interesting. It says that friendship of the world is enmity with God.
And there's another verse I should have put that here.
It's from Romans, and it says that the carnal mind is at enmity with the law of God,
and it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
And so the carnal mind, the Greek rendering, if you look in the margin of that word,
it is the minding of the flesh.
The minding of the flesh cannot be made subject to the law of God.
And so that is the same as the friendship with the world.
It's minding the things of the flesh.
And you see here, this is a Christian contemporary band.
And you'll notice a similarity between this particular band and this secular rock band.
The lights and everything, they're trying to emulate the world, to copy the world.
That is called adultery.
God says, you are an adulterer, you are an adulteress, if you are being a friend with the world.
And because that is God's enemy, the flesh, the worldliness.
And another quote says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him.
1 John 2 verse 15.
And I have a picture here, and I've actually forgotten which one is the Christian band
and which one is the worldly secular band.
If I could guess with my memory, I think the one on the left is supposed to be the Christian band.
But it's hard to tell.
As you can see that there is this love of the world.
There's this, again, this aping of the world, this copying, trying to be just like the world.
And again, we're not supposed to love the world, because the love of the father is not in us.
I just want to share a brief testimony, and then we're going to cover some quotes.
I normally don't have a bunch of quotes that we go through, but tonight I just wanted to show us
that this should not be an issue in our church, that we've had plenty of light on this subject.
When I was first converted, when I became a Christian, I was about 19, and this was the year 2001.
I wasn't going to bring some pictures, but I was trying to be a hippie.
I had very long hair. I was into other things as well.
But then the Lord got to me.
But I was a slow one too.
I was very slow of heart to understand it, to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
If you see a picture of me after I was converted, for about six months, I looked pretty much the same.
I went to church dressed still like a modern-day hippie, and I had this understanding that,
well, the Lord doesn't care. I can dress how I want.
The Lord just looks at the heart. That's all that he cares about.
And there is some truth to that.
But the Lord is concerned, because what's working inside is going to be working out.
And so the Lord began to work upon that heart that was given to him.
And he began to show me things and teach me things.
And I began to realize that it is important to witness that we give the way we look, the way we appear,
because we are a spectacle to the world and to angels, as the Bible says.
And so it is important just how the world sees God when they see us.
How the name Christian is considered when they look upon us.
And so one thing is music.
When I was converted, I immediately shunned all of that hard rock and roll, and I knew that was evil.
But I still listen to some secular songs, as well as the Christian contemporary music.
And again, it wasn't anything hard in rock and roll.
Well, I began to wonder, the spirit began to move upon me and to trouble my mind.
And I thought, now why should I be listening to secular music when the Lord has given me this music with words that will remind me of him?
And so I gave up all secular music and only listened to the Christian music.
And so for a number of years, for about two years, I was of the mindset that it didn't matter what kind of Christian music,
as long as it wasn't too heavy and hard.
Well, the Lord started to work upon my heart again.
And I began noticing that some songs were very familiar to the songs that I listened to prior, previously, before I was converted.
And it would give you those same feelings.
And I thought, well, that's not really right.
And so I would avoid some of those songs.
Well, at one point I went to a camp meeting.
I was helping out at a camp meeting, and it was actually some friends from the academy.
Some old friends were a band playing for the youth tent.
And the music was, they had the jambay, the drums and the guitar and everything.
Well, during that time, there was this concerned church member who came up to us as kids.
And he said, don't you know that's wrong?
That's evil, Ellen White says, and started telling us how evil that music was.
And of course, oh, we had the answer. Well, David danced before the Lord.
All these cliches that we try to use to justify what we're doing.
But the Lord, because I was sincere, I was honest.
I wanted to know the Lord's will and to do it.
And I said, well, where is it? Where does he say these things?
And later he came up to me.
Well, I just want to say his approach was kind of, I don't know if it was the best approach.
It made us defensive.
But later he came up to me and he told me, look in Selected Messages page such and such.
And the problem is I forgot the page number and it slowly drifted out of my mind and I forgot the whole incident.
And so it wasn't till about, oh, it had to have been, I think, a year later.
I was working as a mechanic at a shop and I was working with my old roommate.
He had been my roommate at Andrews University when I was going to college before I was converted.
And so he was there working at the same mechanic shop and so we were working together.
And here I am listening to these Christian contemporary songs.
And we were working together and there was just something in my mind that thought, wonder what he's thinking.
Here I am professing to be a Christian and some of these songs are not so Christian.
It just made me wonder again about my witness, about the testimony that I was portraying.
And so it made me kind of feel uneasy about that.
And at that time I was listening to the Christian contemporary music and to the hymns of all that the Lord has blessed us with.
And I began to notice something that when I was listening to the contemporary music, those hymns seemed awful, boring.
I would pop in the tape with the hymns on there and it was kind of boring and dry.
It's not so exciting.
And I began to notice these things and I began to realize slowly but surely that the Lord has something for us.
It's not about emotionalism. It's not about getting high off music.
It's about the truth. It's about the pure truth of God's Word and the beauty in the musical instruments that God has created.
Well, I went to Andrews University again a number of years later.
And I was running to be the branch director for the student body.
Because the branch stands for Bringing Andrews to Christ. So that's the religious director for the students.
And so I was giving my speech and at Andrews they had this thing called Mosaic.
And it was this Friday night meeting where they would have music.
And afterward there would be a short talk or something and then a meal very late in the evening.
And so I went there once and I was very surprised with what I heard and what I saw over there.
It was very, very much worldly and loud.
I left the building and it reverberated through the walls. It was very, very much loud.
Anyhow, so I was running for branch director and I was giving my speech.
And people were saying amen, praise the Lord. They were agreeing with me in my speech.
And then I said that I wanted to be straight with them.
That I want to let them know what they are going to be voting for if they vote for me.
And I mentioned that as branch director that I could not stand for any of the music that we hear in Mosaic and the Asaba school.
They had Asaba school. Some of the songs that they played there.
I said that I cannot stand for these particular things.
And the moment I said that, the whole place erupted because I was touching their golden calf.
They were just, there was just great unrest in the student body.
And it was very difficult to finish the speech after that because there was a lot of murmuring and talking and great unrest.
So that is the reason that I am approaching this subject because it means a lot to me.
And I am very concerned with the movement that is happening in our church.
The beloved church that God bestows his supreme affection upon.
We are becoming adulterers with the world.
After I gave that speech and there was this unrest, this upheaval, someone asked me a question.
And I realized I wasn't fully, I mean I had my reasons from my experience.
But I said, well I need to find out what the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy have to say.
Because it is such a controversy.
And when I studied the Spirit of Prophecy in the Bible, I was amazed at what I found.
I realized that this is not a controversy.
It is simply that people want to have their own way.
They want to be pleased.
They do not want to follow God's will.
I am sure, I can say that for everyone.
I am sure there are some people, like myself in the beginning, I didn't understand.
The Lord had to guide me.
And so I am hoping that that is what these Mediates can do.
They can help people to see what the Lord has for us.
But anyhow, after my search, I found out what 18 pages of materials from the Spirit of Prophecy.
We are going to go over some of that here.
So let's start with number one.
It says that music forms a part of God's worship in the courts above.
And we should endeavor in our songs of praise to approach as nearly as possible to the harmony of the heavenly choirs.
The proper training of the voice is an important feature in education and should not be neglected.
Singing as a part of religious service is as much an act of worship as is prayer.
The heart must feel the spirit of the song to give it right expression.
Patriarchs and Prophets, page 594.
So our music should reflect the music of heaven.
And over the course of these courts, we have a few examples that we are going to play.
And they are going to be very short.
Sometimes when people give these type of things, I think they play them too long.
And we don't need to hear that for very long, so I hope they are short enough.
I don't even like playing them so much, but we are going to show some examples.
And you just ask yourself, is this heavenly music?
Is this the music that angels would sing?
Okay, so the next quote, number two.
It says, if we do not receive the religion of Christ by feeding upon the word of God,
we shall not be entitled to an entrance into the city of God.
Having lived on earthly food, having educated our tastes to love worldly things,
we would not be fitted for the heavenly courts.
We would not appreciate the pure heavenly current that circulates in heaven.
The voices of the angels and the music of their harps would not satisfy us.
The science of heaven would be as an enigma to our minds.
We need to hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ.
We need to be molded and fashioned by the transforming influence of His grace
that we may be fitted for the society of heavenly angels.
The Advent Review in Sabbath Herald, May 4, 1897.
Notice a couple of things here.
It says, having educated our tastes to love worldly things.
People sometimes when they see music, they say, well, that's my style.
The fact of the matter is, style can be educated. Tastes can be educated.
Musical preferences can be educated.
The reason that is our style is because we have educated our minds to worldly things.
And we like things that tend to the flesh rather than to the spirit.
And then another thing it says here, that the voices of the angels
and the music of their harps would not satisfy us.
And as I gave my testimony, that was my experience,
that the music, these beautiful hymns of old were not satisfying.
They didn't give me that, basically that high, that spiritual high that I was longing for.
All right, number three.
It says, it is not safe for the Lord's workers to take part in worldly entertainments.
Association with worldliness in musical lines is looked upon as harmless by some Sabbath keepers.
But such ones are on dangerous ground.
Thus Satan seeks to lead men and women astray, and thus he has gained control of souls.
So smooth, so plausible is the working of the enemy that his wiles are not suspected,
and many church members become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
Selected messages, volume three, page 332.
She says here that association with worldliness in musical lines.
You'll often hear people saying, well, it doesn't matter the music.
It's the words that matter.
But here she is specifically talking about musical lines and worldliness in musical lines.
So there is such a thing as worldly music.
There is such a thing as worldly music.
Okay.
This is from the testimonies for the church, volume one, page 496.
It says, young Sabbath keepers are given to pleasure seeking.
I saw that there is not one in 20 who knows what experimental religion is.
They are constantly grasping after something to satisfy their desire for change or amusement.
And unless they are undeceived and their sensibilities aroused so that they can save from the heart,
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.
They are not worthy of Him and will come short of everlasting life.
The young generally are in a terrible deception, and yet they profess godliness.
Their unconsecrated lives are a reproach to the Christian name.
Their example is a snare to others.
And again, I'm reflecting upon my own experience as I read this.
They hinder the sinner, for in nearly every respect there are no better than unbelievers.
They have the word of God, but its warnings, admonitions, reproofs, and corrections are unheeded,
as are also the encouragements and promises to be obedient and faithful.
God's promises are all on the condition of humble obedience.
One pattern only is given to the young.
But how do their lives compare with the life of Christ?
I feel alarmed as I witness everywhere the frivolity of young men and young women
who profess to believe the truth.
God does not seem to be in their thoughts.
Their minds are filled with nonsense.
The conversation is only empty, vain talk.
They have a keen ear for music.
And Satan knows what organs to excite, to animate, to engross,
and to charm the mind so that Christ is not desired.
The spiritual longings of the soul for divine knowledge for our growth and grace are wanting.
Now we looked and we saw how there are certain organs in our brain that can be excited.
And that is the lower nature.
It can be excited through music.
You can bypass that frontal lobe and excite that part of the brain.
And Satan knows that very well.
And so we're going to see how Satan has been using music.
Okay, let's look at quote number four.
It says,
I was shown that youth must take a higher stand and make the word of God the man of their counsel and their guide.
Solemn responsibilities rest upon the young, which they lightly regard.
The introduction of music into their homes, instead of inciting to holiness and spirituality,
has been the means of diverting their minds from the truth.
Frivolous songs and the popular sheet music of the day seem congenial to their taste.
The instruments of music have taken time which should have been devoted to prayer.
Music, when not abused, is a great blessing.
But when put to a wrong use, it is a terrible curse.
It excites, but does not impart that strength and courage,
which the Christian can find only at the throne of grace,
while humbly making known his wants and with strong cries and tears,
fleeting for heavenly strength to be fortified against the powerful temptations of the evil one.
Satan is leading the young captive.
Oh, what can I say to lead them to break his power of infatuation?
He is a skillful charmer, luring them on to perdition.
Listen to the instructions from the inspired book of God.
I saw that Satan had blinded the minds of the youth,
that they could not comprehend the truths of God's word.
Testimonies from the Church Volume 1, page 497.
And a lot of these references are to the young because they seem more susceptible,
but there's many, many adults that are also instigating some of these particular styles of music as well.
In number five says, the art of sacred melody was diligently cultivated in those schools of the prophets.
So again, there is such a thing as sacred melody and secular or worldly melody.
So it says that the art of sacred melody was diligently cultivated.
No frivolous waltz was heard, nor flippant song that should extol man and divert the attention from God.
But sacred, solemn, psalms of praise to the Creator, exalting His name and recounting His wondrous works.
Thus music was made to serve a holy purpose, to lift the thoughts to that which was pure and noble and elevating,
and to awaken in the soul devotion and gratitude to God.
How different the objects to which musical talent is often devoted.
How many who profess this gift employ it to honor and exalt self instead of glorifying God.
A love for music leads the unwary to unite with world lovers in pleasure gatherings where God has forbidden His children to go.
And we're going to see a couple examples of what this music is doing to our church.
It says thus that which is a great blessing when rightly used becomes one of Satan's most successful agencies
to allure the mind from God and from eternal things.
Parents should not employ to instruct their children a teacher of music who has no reverence for sacred things,
nor should they allow them to learn and practice dance songs and frivolous music.
That's from The Signs of the Times, June 22, 1882.
And then the next one, then we're going to show something after that.
It says, number six, no one who has an indwelling Savior will dishonor Him before others
by producing strains from a musical instrument which call the mind from God and heaven to light and trifling things.
That's testimonies from the church.
Volume 1, page 510.
So here we're going to show is an example of music that was played for a church service at an Adventist church.
I think it was at one of the colleges.
And I really don't need to mention any names or anything because I don't think there's a single Adventist college that is not affected in this manner.
So the first one is this was played at the church service, at the opening of church service.
So that's jazz music and now it has become acceptable in Adventist churches.
And we have just saw that God does not approve of worldliness in musical lines nor of dance music being associated with God's people.
And we're going to look at a short little history of jazz, very, very brief, toward the end.
So that's some of the music that is being introduced or has been in our churches for a number of years.
Alright, let's look at number seven.
This one says, eternal things have little weight with the youth.
Angels of God are in tears as they write in the role, the words and acts of professed Christians.
Angels are hovering over yonder dwelling. The young are there assembled.
There is the sound of vocal and instrumental music. Christians are gathered there.
But what is that you hear?
It is a song, a frivolous ditty, fit for the dance hall.
Behold, the pure angels gather their light closer around them and darkness envelops those in that dwelling.
The angels are moving from the scene. Sadness is upon their countenances. Behold, they are weeping.
I just want to pause here. There's a kind of a new understanding that, well, angels of God are everywhere.
You know, they'll go to anything and do anything. The thing is we can drive them away.
We can drive the angels of God away and invite Satan's dark presence in the stead.
God is not going to, God's spirit, his angels are not going to go where he's not welcome.
So it says this I saw repeated a number of times all through the ranks of Sabbath keepers and especially in blank.
Music has occupied the hours which should have been devoted to prayer.
Music is the idol which many professed Sabbath keeping Christians worship.
Satan has no objection to music if he can make that a channel through which to gain access to the minds of the youth.
Anything will suit his purpose that will divert the mind from God and engage the time which should be devoted to his service.
He works through the means which will exert the strongest influence to hold the largest numbers in a pleasing infatuation.
Well, they are paralyzed by his power. When turned to good account, music is a blessing.
But it is often made one of Satan's most attractive agencies to ensnare souls.
When abused, it leads the unconcentrated to pride, vanity, and falling.
When allowed to take the place of devotion and prayer, it is a terrible curse.
Young persons assemble to sing and although professed Christians frequently dishonor God and their faith by their frivolous conversation and their choice of music.
Sacred music is not congenial to their taste.
I was directed to the plain teachings of God's word which have been passed by unnoticed.
In the judgment, all these words of inspiration will condemn those who have not heeded them.
That's testimonies from the Church Volume 1, page 505 and 506.
I believe that's the place where Ellen White has a whole section.
It's called, I believe, an address to the youth or an address to young Sabbath keepers or something like that.
She was very concerned with the youth and she had a lot to tell them.
Okay, number eight.
It says, but there has been a class of social gatherings in Battle Creek.
And again, unfortunately, we can put any major city that we have a university or a college in.
It says of an entirely different character, parties of pleasure that have been a disgrace to our institutions and to the Church.
They encourage pride of dress, pride of appearance, self gratification, hilarity, and trifling.
Satan is entertained as an honored guest and he takes possession of those who would patronize these gatherings.
A view of one such company was presented to me.
Where were assembled those who profess to believe the truth?
One was seated at the instrument of music and such songs were poured forth as made the watching angels weep.
There was mirth, there was coarse laughter, there was an abundance of enthusiasm and a kind of inspiration.
But the joy was such as Satan only is able to create.
This is an enthusiasm and infatuation of which all who love God will be ashamed.
It prepares the participants for unholy thought and action.
I have reason to think that some who were engaged in that scene heartily repented of the shameful performance.
Many such gatherings have been presented to me.
I have seen the gaiety, the display and dress, the personal adornment.
All want to be thought brilliant and give themselves up to hilarity, foolish jesting, cheap, coarse flattery, and uproarious laughter.
The eyes sparkle, the cheek is flushed, conscience sleeps.
With eating and drinking and merry making, they do their best to forget God.
The scene of pleasure is their paradise and heaven is looking on, seeing and hearing all.
The testimonies to ministers page 82 and 83.
I just want to mention something.
It's because we have allowed worldliness to be introduced in Christian music.
Because of that reason, it has made our youth think, well, there's obviously nothing wrong with that music then.
And so it leads to some of the things that we're going to witness right here.
You've heard of different, I don't know if you've heard of talent shows.
A lot of academies and universities are now this big thing about talent shows.
And we're going to look at a couple of those talent shows.
And in these quotes, you'll notice the words that were used.
There was mirth, there's coarse laughter, there's an enthusiasm, this kind of inspiration.
There's a perorious laughter, hilarity, foolish jesting, and talks about the instrument of music.
Songs are poured forth as would make watching angels weep.
And I almost wonder if the things she was seeing were the things that are happening today,
but I'm sure it was also happening then.
So this is from an academy.
And the thing is, a lot of parents send their kids and they don't realize what's happening, what's going on.
I think of my experience at academy and we have just strayed far, far away from God's ideal.
I just pray that the Lord will move to undo what we have done while we were sleeping
and satan has been stealing a march upon us.
So that was an academy and here's another short clip from a university.
That was actually in 2000, so that was 10 years ago.
We've already been that far and the thing that just pains me and puzzles me the most
is that the kids, they don't do these things by themselves, these talent shows and these things.
There has to be faculty, administration involved.
And so someone needs to step up to the plate and really be the man and to be as true to do this needle to the pole,
even if everyone is falling to the wayside.
Most of Adventism is on that Broadway and we need to remember narrow way Christianity.
Alright, let's move on to the next thing.
It has to do with music and show and theatrics, quote number 10.
It says, it is not for the workers to seek for methods by which they can make a show,
consuming time in theatrical performances and musical display.
For this benefits no one.
It does no good to train the children to make speeches for special occasions.
They should be one to Christ and instead of spending time, money and efforts to make a display,
let the whole effort be made to gather sheaves for the harvest.
That's Councils Ensemble School work page 153.
Number 11, it says the presentation before me was that if Elder Blank would heed the Council of his brethren
and not rush on in the way he does in making a great effort to secure large congregations,
he would have more influence for good and his work would have a more telling effect.
He should cut off from his meetings everything that has assemblance of theatrical display.
For such outward appearances give no strength to the message that he bears.
When the Lord can cooperate with him, his work will not need to be done in so expensive a manner.
He will not need then to go to so much expense in advertising his meetings.
He will not place so much dependence on the musical program.
This part of his service is conducted more after the order of a concert in a theater than a song service in a religious meeting.
That's the book of Angelism page 501.
Quote number 12, it says carry forward your work in humility.
Never rise above the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ.
Not in the art of display, but in lifting up Christ, the sin-parturing redeemer,
will you find success in winning souls.
As you work for God in humility and lowliness of heart, he will manifest himself to you.
By the use of charts, symbols, and representations of various kinds,
the minister can make the truth stand out clearly and distinctly.
This is a help and in harmony with the word of God.
God often used symbols and different things through the prophets to teach lessons.
It says, but when the workers make his labor so expensive that others are unable to secure from the treasury sufficient means to support them in the field,
he is not working in harmony with God's plan.
The work in the large cities is to be done after Christ's order, not after the order of a theatrical performance.
So there's a difference between Christ's order and the order of a theatrical performance.
It is not a theatrical performance that glorifies God, but the presentation of the truth in the love of Christ.
Do not divest the truth of its dignity and impressiveness by preliminaries that are more after the order of the world than after the order of heaven.
Let your hearers understand that you hold meetings not to charm their senses with music and other things,
but to preach the truth in all its solemnity, that it may come to them as a warning,
arousing them from their deathlike sleep of self-indulgence.
It is the naked truth that like a sharp two-edged sword cuts both waves.
It is this that will arouse those who are dead in trespasses and sins.
Testimonies for the church, volume 9, page 142 and 143.
And the last one and then we're going to look at a short clip.
It says, in their efforts to reach the people, the Lord's messengers are not to follow the ways of the world.
In the meetings that are held, they are not to depend on worldly singers and theatrical display to awaken an interest.
Testimonies for the church, volume 9, page 143.
Another movement that is moving in the church and we're borrowing these things as Adventists.
We're borrowing these things from the apostate Protestant churches,
and they have gotten these things from the world and so it's just feeding right into us.
And one of the things the world is good at is theater and acting and pleasing the senses through theatrical display.
And Christian churches have adopted that and they've acted out the life of Christ,
the passion plays, you've heard of them.
And we also have partaking of that same spirit, that same order which is not Christ's order.
And again, these passion plays happen all over the place in our universities.
Here's one.
That was a passion play that we're using theatrical display to reach people and we're counseled against that.
And again, the councils are right here before us but we don't want to heed them.
And so far all of the videos I've shown are from our very own church.
Okay, number 14.
It says, still others go to the opposite extreme, making religious emotions prominent.
In on special occasions manifesting intense zeal, their religion seems to be more of the nature of a stimulus rather than an abiding faith in Christ.
True ministers know the value of the inward working of the Holy Spirit upon human hearts.
They are content with simplicity in religious services.
Instead of making much of popular singing, they give their principal attention to the study of the word and render praise to God from the heart.
That's from the book of Angelus in page 502.
And before I read these other quotes, I'm just going to play another clip.
And this one actually isn't from an Adventist church but the fact of the matter is it's no different.
That's the trouble is we're no longer a peculiar people.
And you notice it's talking, this has to do with emotionalism, making emotions prominent.
And again, they are very good at it.
You can't help but to feel a moving when you watch these particular things.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
To figure out how to do things just right, to please the emotions, to please the senses.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
And the point is that we need to spend more time in God's Word knowing how to reach hearts rather than spending all of this time.
You are my God.
So anyhow, you can clearly see the emotions they build up and they build up and they build up until they're ready to burst.
And we'll just read some more quotes here and we're going to look at a little bit at that more.
This is number 15.
When professing Christians reach the high standard which it is their privilege to reach, the simplicity of Christ will be maintained in all their worship.
Forms and ceremonies and musical accomplishments are not the strength of the church, yet these things have taken the place God should have, even as they did in the worship of the Jews.
The Lord has revealed to me that when the heart is cleansed and sanctified and the members of the church are partakers of the divine nature, a power will go forth from the church who believe the truth that will cause melody in the heart.
Men and women will not then depend upon their instrumental music, but on the power and grace of God which will give fullness of joy.
There is a work to be done in clearing away the rubbish which has been brought into the church.
This message is not only for the church at Blank, but for every other church that has followed her example.
The Gospel is in page 512. And then number 16, it says, many are questioning and troubled. This is because they have not faith in God, with some religious exercises mean little more than a good time.
When their feelings are aroused, they think they are greatly blessed. Some do not think they are blessed unless they are stirred and excited.
The intoxication of excitement is the object they are seeking. And if they do not obtain this, they suppose they are all wrong, or that someone else is all wrong.
Selected messages, volume 2, page 21.
So we need to avoid that type of music that we are just trying to play the music to get an emotional experience, a drive.
Now that we've seen that, we want to cover a few things on the right use of music. We've seen a lot of negatives.
So here's just a few quotes on the right use of music. It says that great improvement can be made in singing.
Some think that the louder they sing, the more music they make. But noise is not music. Good singing is like the music of the birds, subdued and melodious.
In some of our churches, I have heard solos that were all together unsuitable for the service of the Lord's house.
The long drawn out notes and the peculiar sounds common in operatic singing are not pleasing to the angels.
They delight to hear the simple songs of praise sung in a natural tone.
I just want to pause here. It's not just about beat and drums and rock and roll. It's also about how it's sung.
Some of the songs are very breathy, which is very sensual. Other songs are like operatic.
They're trying to impress with the human voice and other things like that. So it's also how songs are sung as well as how they're played.
It says, the songs in which every word is uttered clearly in a musical tone are the songs that they join us in singing.
They take up the refrain that is sung from the heart with the spirit and the understanding of Angelism 5.10.
In number 18, it says, the melody of song, poured forth from many hearts in clear distinct utterances,
is one of God's instrumentalities in the work of saving souls. So music is used in the work of saving souls.
However, it says, all the services should be conducted with solemnity and awe, as if in the visible presence of the Master of Assemblies.
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, 493.
Another quote, number 19, it says, in the meeting, hell let a number be chosen to take part in the song's service,
and let the singing be accompanied with musical instruments skillfully handled.
We are not to oppose the use of instrumental music in our work.
This part of the service is to be carefully conducted, for it is the praise of God in song.
The singing is not always to be done by a few, as often as possible, let the entire congregation join.
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, page 144.
And the last two here, those who make singing a part of divine worship should select hymns with music appropriate to the occasion,
and not funeral notes, but cheerful yet solemn melodies.
The voice can and should be modulated, softened, and subdued.
Vendilus in page 508.
So there is an extreme on the other side, and that is singing like you are at a funeral, and God wants us to sing from the heart.
And often we do not sing from the heart because we have not had an experience with God.
And so, when you go into a church and you hear the singing, you can know just the experience that they're having.
And so we need the life, but we need the life of the Holy Spirit, not the unholy spirit.
And the last quote here says, many are singing beautiful songs in the meetings, songs of what they will do and what they mean to do.
But some do not do these things.
They do not sing with the Spirit and the understanding also.
So in the reading of the Word of God, some are not benefited because they do not take it into their very life.
They do not practice it.
Vendilus in page 508.
And so when we sing songs, it's very important for us to understand the words, to sing with understanding and meaning, and to sing if we mean it.
So the Lord has told us in 2 Chronicles 2020, and someone said, this is where you go to find 2020 vision.
It says, believe in the Lord your God, so shall he be established, believe his prophets, so shall he prosper.
2 Chronicles 2020.
