Join us on Sunday at 9:25 AM

Directions

Making Melody

 

(Ephesians 5:15-20 ESV)

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Popular music is spread across many genres but pop is the one that first comes to mind, and the genre that plays most across FM and Internet radio (it is possible to include modern R&B and some elements of hip-hop within the wider categorization of pop.) I grew up listening to a lot of pop, as I suspect many others of my generation did and many still do. Pop music has the reputation of being vacuous and empty - the tunes are pretty much all that matter and most pop songs tend to sound the same. Pop’s listeners don’t tend to care about the lyrics in these songs, which are usually a mishmash of cliches and forced attempts to make words rhyme.

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything
You held me down, but I got up (hey!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready 'cause I had enough
I see it all, I see it now

It is perhaps pedantic to analyze the lyrics of pop songs but inspite of their inanity, most of them tend to reflect some basic themes: romantic love (true love, crushes, breakups and everything in between), partying (with a blatant endorsement of wild and destructive behaviour) and self-empowerment. These themes are not unique to pop music; media does not exist in a vacuum outside of culture. It merely reflects the inherent characteristics of society and glorifies lifestyles that are desired by many. While it is a stretch to claim that every member of society wishes to live life the way shown in pop music, television and film, it is true that most people tolerate such lifestyles and, if push comes to shove, would choose such a ‘liberated’ way of living over that advocated by those of us whom they deride as old-fashioned religious conservatives or fundamentalists. The world has made its choice; it has chosen to live apart from God because it considers His Word to be foolishness. It has chosen to make melody that worships the self and denies the Saviour.

As we have seen over the last few sermons in this series on Ephesians, Christians are called to a lifestyle that is in stark contrast to that espoused by the world. The first three chapters of Ephesians has made it abundantly clear that in the past, we were dead in our sins and trespasses and that we lived like the world wants to live. But God, being rich in mercy, has redeemed us by the blood of Jesus Christ and has reconciled us to Him and to each other. By doing so, he has made us part of a new humanity and has given as a new identity - we are God’s people, the church. That is our calling.

Paul began chapter 4 by urging us, Christians, to ‘walk in a manner worthy of this calling.’ (Eph 4:1) In this epistle, the term ‘walk’ is used a synonym for ‘to live’ or simply put, lifestyle. So Eph 4:1 can be read (and is translated so in the NIV) ‘...to live life worthy of this calling.’ In Eph 4:17, we are told that we must no longer ‘walk as the Gentiles.’ Rather, we are to walk in holiness in a manner worthy of the teaching of Jesus Christ (Eph 4:21-22). We are told to be imitators of God, as we walk in love (Eph 5:2). In Eph 5:7-8, we are reminded that at one time we were in the dark just as the world is today, but now we are in the light of the Lord. So we are exhorted to walk as children of the light. In all these instances, the idea being conveyed is clear: Christians are to live life in a way which is completely separate, opposed and distinguishable from the lifestyle of the world. Our lives are to be dictated by the glorious privilege that we have of being found in Jesus Christ.

Now, in verse 15, Paul uses the word ‘walk’ one last time.

15 Look carefully then how you walk….

Paul is summarizing his exhortations over the last few chapters; the words ‘look carefully’ indicates that what follows in this passage is a matter of urgency (the term look or watch signifies that) and accuracy (carefulness). He is reminding us once again that as Christians, we have to be aware of our lifestyles and we have to evaluate them to verify that we are living in accord with the calling we have received.

Our lives are to be evaluated against two criteria:
1) Are we living wisely? (vs 15-17)
2) Do we show evidence of being filled by the Spirit? (vs 18-20)

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The contrast between the person who is wise and one who is called a fool is evident throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament books of Psalms and Proverbs. Proverbs 1:7 exclaims that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The wise person fears the Lord and delights in His Law and in turn receives true insight and understanding. He constantly seeks to order his life according to the will of God. By living consistently in such a manner, he declares that he belongs to the people of God. As Ps 1:1-2 says “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” But the fool says in his heart that ‘there is no God.’ (Ps 14:1) He lacks understanding and despises wisdom. Unlike the wise person who is careful (hence, Paul’s usage of the phrase ‘look carefully’ at the beginning of verse 15) about how he or she lives, the fool lives a senseless life - ‘he lacks discernment in practical living’ [O’Brien].

Paul writes these verses with this Old Testament background in mind. But he does not stop there; he expands on the nature of true wisdom which involves understanding the will of the Lord and making the best use of time. But what is wisdom? It is important to remember what we have already read in Ephesians as we ponder this question.

Ephesians 1:7-10 — In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:17–19 — that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Ephesians 3:10 — so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

If we cast our eyes to other Pauline uses of ‘wisdom’, we read the following in the Corinthian epistles.

1 Corinthians 3:19 — For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”
1 Corinthians 2:6–8 — Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

These verses make it clear to us that Christians are not wise because they possess just some practical, moral or ethical wisdom. No! Christians have been given insight into the very wisdom of God Himself, which remains a mystery to everyone else. God has made known this mystery to us, which involves the reconciliation of the world to Himself through Christ Jesus. He has saved a people for Himself and set them apart to form the church, which is His agent in making known this wisdom to the world. It is when we seek to understand and grasp the significance of this mystery that we become truly wise, in contrast to the foolishness of the world which despises and rejects the revealed wisdom of God.

So, we are asked to walk as those who have access to this wisdom. It is not merely an intellectual comprehension (‘head-knowledge’) that is required, but rather understanding put into daily practice. Paul further clarifies this aspect of being wise in verse 17 - “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” What is the will of the Lord? Or to put it in more common parlance, what is God’s will for my life?

Ephesians 1:5 — he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Ephesians 1:11 — In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

What is God’s will for my life? That I will come to know Jesus Christ! God has carried out His will with supreme perfection in His love and grace toward us. And when we understand His will, we are to live in a manner which complements that understanding.

Philippians 2:12–13 — Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Romans 12:2 — Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What is God’s will for my life? That I will discern the things that are pleasing to Him (Eph 5:10), do them and be transformed into the likeness of His Son. This task of discernment needs to be done daily and govern all of our actions and choices. We have access to God’s wisdom through His word; He has given us His Spirit who is able to help us understand that wisdom and make it practical in our lives. Such Spirit-led discernment will have comprehensive results in our lives and will soon become second-nature to us, so that instead of dillydallying over each and every life decision, we can live in confidence that all of our choices fall under the sovereign will of God.

Isn’t there a general will of God and then, a particular will of God for each one of us? Yes there is, absolutely. However, we often seek that particular will with the wrong intent, asking the wrong questions. Whom should I marry? Where should I go to school? Should I take this job over the other? The better questions are: Why should I marry? What am I seeking to accomplish by going to school? How did this job help me to fulfill my God-given responsibilities? The particular will of God in our lives is the application of His general will to specific situations but it does not stand apart from it. No Christian who is sure about the general will of God and seeks to apply it diligently will go wrong with his or her choices, even if that person is unclear about a particular situation. Many Christians have gone wrong because the only time the have sought the will of God is in particular situations. They do not care about God’s greater intent for their lives; they would rather that He rubber-stamps the choices they have already made in their minds, according to their desires. An aged preacher prayed: “Oh, Lord, use me as Thou wilt—if only in an advisory capacity.” If our mindset is to draw up some checklist of things that we can apply to individual situations (the person I will marry must have these three qualities) and use that to rationalize our choices apart from discerning the will of God for our lives, that is also foolishness. It is perhaps a different type of foolishness than that of the world but it is foolishness all the same.

When wise Christians discern the will of God and apply it in their daily lives, they are able to “make the best use of time” (verse 16) or as the NIV renders it, “make the most of every opportunity.” We need to make the most of time because the ‘days are evil.’ We live in the last days, an evil age that is under the control of the prince of this world, the devil himself (Eph 2:2). He is at work in those who are opposed to God, enabling and encouraging them to gratify the passions of their flesh and mindlessly obey every evil desire that springs from their mind and bodies (Eph 2:3). We used to be like that, dead in our trespasses and sins but no more! We have been made alive with Christ and have been seated with Him in the heavenly places. We have had a foretaste of the age that is to come, of the days when Christ will reign over all the universe. So though we now live in this present evil age, we are not content to let the devil have a free reign over our time. Instead, we are called to ‘take advantage of every opportunity in this fallen world to conduct ourselves in a manner pleasing to God’ [O’Brien] and to declare to the world that we live in the will of God and not under the power of this world. This is not mere ‘carpe diem’ - seize the day. It is not a call to hyper-efficiency in our jobs or to fill our every waking moment with activity so that we do not ‘waste a moment of life,’ No! It is a call to take a stand for God against this world and its ruler as Eph 6:13 exhorts us to do “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

So let us live as wise people, seeking and understanding the wisdom of God and discerning His will so that we are able to make the most of every opportunity in life to show that we are not of this world.

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It might seem very abrupt to us that Paul brings in alcohol and drunkenness in the flow of this passage. But he is continuing his contrast between the ways of the world and the way of the Christian by using the example of wine and its influence upon the people of the world. Indiscriminate consumption of wine (i.e alcohol) and its influence is always pictured negatively within the Scriptures and is seen to stand in opposition to wisdom. So, Proverbs 20:1 says that “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Paul himself associates drunkenness with the ways of darkness in 1 Thessalonians 5:6–8 “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

The world, throughout history, has associated drinking with ‘having a good time’ - a way to relax and release the stress of the day. This was certainly true in the times of the New Testament - common folk would gather around in a tavern or a pub and get drunk, singing bar songs, being rowdy, getting into fights and so on. It is true today - the bar songs are gone perhaps but our pubs and bars are filled with people drinking away their worries and tensions. Nothing unites the banker, the construction worker, the doctor and the secretary more than a pint or a shot. Drinking and drunkenness is not just tolerated but even celebrated in our songs and movies.

This verse (18) derives considerable influence from the words of Proverbs 23:31–35.

“Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.” “

Ultimately, a culture that celebrates and elevates drinking to some sort of social artform is one that will lead many to debauchery - to all sorts of reckless behaviour because those who are drunk have no self-control; instead, they free themselves to practice every kind of excessive behaviour, be it sexual or otherwise. Debauchery can also be translated as wastefulness or ‘a waste of time.’ Rather than making the most of time, drunkenness leads to waste of time. Isn’t that what a hangover is?

In contrast to the influence of wine that leads to drunkenness, Christians are to be filled by the Spirit. This verse has been interpreted many ways but here is the absolute wrong way to interpret it. Certain streams of charismatics have popularized the concept of ‘getting drunk with the Spirit.’ They are overpowered by the Spirit and lose all self-control and writhe around in some manifestation of drunken ecstasy. That is so against the intent of Paul here: yes, both alcohol and the Spirit are influencers that dictate behaviour but they are totally opposite to each other in the results of their respective influence. Being filled with the Spirit does not lead to the loss of self-control, rather, self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit!

So we are not to be drunk with wine, but we are to be filled with/by the Spirit. But what is this filling and what does it achieve? We look for earlier examples of ‘filling’ within Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:22–23 — And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 3:19 — and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 4:10–13 — He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

It is clear, therefore, that the filling of the Spirit is not some activity that stands on its own; rather, He (the Spirit) is enabling Christians to move further towards being filled with the fullness of God and of Christ. In other words, the Spirit enables individual Christians to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ, and empowers the corporate church to attain the maturity of Christ which is its calling.

What do Spirit-filled Christians do? Verses 19 and 20 give us the answer. Unlike the world, whose definition of a ‘good time’ is coming together over a drink, Christians come together and ‘address (speak to) one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.’ (verse 19a) The context is any social gathering of Christians, not necessarily just corporate worship. The word translated ‘address’ or ‘speak’ more accurately means to voice; to make it less cryptic, it means to sing. When Christians come together, they sing as a group. Psalms, hymns and songs cannot be distinguished too much from one another. They are used interchangeably within the New Testament. It is thought that a psalm was any religious poem set to music (and soon became exclusively associated with the Old Testament psalter during the time of the early church). A hymn was a song that ascribed praise to God. ‘Spiritual songs’ perhaps refer to music that praised God for a particular act (some of the famous songs in the Bible, that of Hannah, Zechariah and Mary all revolved around the birth of a child!) Taken together, these three terms reflect the ‘full range of singing which the Spirit prompts’ [O’Brien]. In the Christian context, singing has a greater purpose than just mere enjoyment; the parallel verse in Colossians 3:16 says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” We sing in order to instruct, edify and exhort each other and to share the joy of our salvation with one another.

So our singing needs to have this horizontal dimension: we sing to one another. But our singing has a vertical dimension as well, which is laid out in the second part of verse 19. We sing and make melody with our heart to the Lord. We make melody with our heart, not ‘in’ our heart (which can be misconstrued as some form of silent worship), singing, with our whole being, worship and praise to the Lord - the manifest expression of our inner joy. And who do we sing to? We sing to the Lord. We need to lay stress on the uniqueness of Christian worship.

Christians do not merely sing about ‘god’. In that general sense, every religion sings about ‘god’ (laying aside the reality of the Christian truth of the true God.) But Christians sing to and about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the unique claim and privilege of the Christian faith. From the time of the early church, Christians have been identified by the subject and object of their music and their praise. We know this from the letter of Pliny, a Roman governor of Asia Minor, to the emperor Trajan in AD 109 where he writes that Christians ‘met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god.’ The pagan world did not have the concept of a God who became man and died for His people as one who was accursed on the cross. They did not have a religious category to accommodate a God who raised Himself from the dead. But the earliest Christians grasped the wonder of the cross, and the glory of their Saviour; they kept singing inspite of the ridicule and mocking they endured at the hand of the world.

In a time when the ability to read was rare, the early Christians encapsulated and memorized the basic tenets of their faith through hymns. Scholars are agreed upon the fact that some snippets of these hymns are captured in the Pauline epistles (Phil 2:6-11, Col 1:15-20, 1 Tim 3:16). And what beautiful hymns they are!

1 Timothy 3:16 — Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

As John MacArthur points out, the church lost this vital lifeline of music during the dark ages. For a thousand years, the Catholic church made music a performance by professional artists. Normal churchgoers just sat and listened to liturgical music, often in a language (Latin) that they did not understand. The light of Christianity struggled to shine through the darkness of those times. But when Martin Luther started the Reformation, he did not just write and preach. Rather, he wrote hymns and once again, the people of God could come together and sing praise to the Lord.

In the bonds of death He lay,
Who for our offense was slain,
But the Lord is risen today,
Christ hath brought us life again;
Wherefore let us all rejoice,
Singing loud with cheerful voice.

Jesus Christ, God’s only Son,
Came at last our foe to smite,
All our sins away hath done,
Done away death’s power and right;
Only the form of death is left,
Of his sting he is bereft.

- ‘In the bonds of death He lay’ by Martin Luther

In England, in the midst of the evangelical revival of the 18th century, John Wesley would preach to thousands while his brother Charles wrote hymns for them to sing.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

- ‘And can it be’ by Charles Wesley

In Chicago, after the Great Fire of 1871, Dwight Moody partnered with his Ira Sankey and set out on another mission of revival. Moody would preach with his booming voice while Ira would set music to the words of Fanny Crosby and others, leading the crowds in singing to the Lord. In the 1950’s and 60’s, Bill Graham set out on his crusades accompanied by Cliff Barrows and George Shea. Cliff would put out the music programs for every event and George would lead the masses in singing, always ending with ‘Just As I Am.’

Just as I am - without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
- O Lamb of God, I come!

- ‘Just as I am’ by Charlotte Elliott

These are the stories of our Christian faith. Wherever and whenever there has been the active movement of the Spirit, leading people to Christ and sparking revival in the church, it has always been accompanied by this treasure trove of music - songs that expose the reality of sin and our need for a Saviour; songs that describe the love and grace of God; and most of all, songs that resound with glorious praise for the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

Such music is the result of the ministry of the Spirit in our lives. As Jesus Himself points out in John 16:13–14 — “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” This is the primary work of the Spirit; the Spirit does not draw attention to Himself but He leads us in glorifying the Son.

We may take it as a rule of the Christian life that the more we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the more we shall glorify the Lord Jesus.” - Frank Gaebelein

What is the song of our heart today? Can we truly join with the chorus of Christians over the ages and say that we make melody with our hearts to the Lord? Or do we identify more with the Christianity of today, a Christianity that has not understood the work of the Spirit and has not learnt to praise the Lord in the manner He deserves? We often ask “Why is there no revival in the church?” “Why are our hearts so cold?” You will find the answer when we look at the songs of the church today. This is not a blanket condemnation of modern Christian music. There are many fine songwriters who have written magnificent, Spirit-inspired songs of praise in our time - songs that can stand in the proud lineage of their predecessors. Neither is it an endorsement of a form of ‘churchy’ music. God has seen fit to use many styles of music (including the most ‘secular’ ones) to edify His church. Rather, it is a question of the content in our music. When we go to a ‘worship’ concert or see a ‘revival’ on television, what are the lyrics of the music being played? More often than not, there are very little words and a lot of mindless repetition. Whatever few words remain, the majority of them are devoted to one form or the other of drawing attention to ourselves and our needs (‘I am desperate’, ‘I am so in need’). Jesus has been reduced to the role of some cosmic empathizer and sympathizer, the ultimate best friend. Where is the teaching and the edification that Paul commanded the Colossian church to bring about through music? If one were to confront someone with this question, the pat answer would be “These are the songs that feel real to me, that meet the needs of my heart. I have no need for complex theology or big words.” Many Christians today wear their ignorance of the Bible and its teaching as a badge of honor and that unfortunately is what is reflected in their songs. There are many in Christendom worried that the church is not engaging the people of today and have correspondingly dumbed down their teaching and their singing when the real problem is that the people are not engaged with the Word and with the Son.

I hope that is not how we feel when we sing those hymns and choruses that are rich with Scripture and describe vividly the glory of our Lord. I hope we understand what we are singing. Even if we understand the words partly,may we have the willingness to get back into the Word and learn more about the Lord. I hope that the instinct of our heart is to make melody to the Lord and that our definition of a good time is to get together with His people and sing unto Him; for He is worthy to be praised and sung about. When Isaiah had the merest inkling of His coming hundreds of years before His birth, he wrote the chapters in Isaiah which we now call the Servant Songs. The night He was born, the angels descended upon the earth to sing His praises. ‘Hark the herald angels sing; Glory to the newborn King.’ When Paul considered the ministry of His Saviour, he wrote two of the most magnificent passages in the New testament, both of them hymns to Christ; Colossians 1:15–20 — He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. and Philippians 2:6–11 — who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This chorus of praise will extend into eternity for we read in Revelation 5:9–13 — And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” The theme is eternal, the words are the same but the song is new because in their experience, the saints of God are refreshed and renewed in their knowledge of the Lamb of God - this is their story and this is their song.

We cannot wait till we get to heaven to begin making melody with our hearts to the Lord. God is inviting us today, through the filling of His spirit, to lift our voices and exalt the name of His Son. Let all that thrills our souls be Jesus; let Him be everything to us. And when He is everything to us, then we can give thanks to God for everything (verse 20) - be it health, sickness, riches, poverty and everything in between - in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because we know that whatever may befall us in this world, it does not compare to the glory of His person, the riches of what He has accomplished for us and the assurance of the hope that awaits us in heaven.

May God enable us to live as those who are wise, discerning His will and making choices that please Him, redeeming the time and making the most of every opportunity. May the Spirit fill us so that we can lift our voices together to exhort and edify each other and to sing the glorious praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bibliography

O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.