SINGING PRAISE TO GOD Throughout the bible we read that men, woman and angels have sung their praise to God. The question is not, CAN we sing our praise to God? But, What place does SINGING have in our SERVICE to God? We read in 1Chron 15:13, ...our God made a breach upon us for that we SOUGHT HIM NOT AFTER THE DUE ORDER. The due order of seeking God under the Old Covenant had to do with the service of the temple. David violated Gods due order when he attempted to bring home the ark of God from the land of the Philistines on a cart, instead of having the Levites carry it as God commanded Moses. When the oxen pulling the cart stumbled, and Uzza touched the ark to steady it, and thus it displeased the Lord, and He killed him. What is the DUE ORDER of our service to God in the New Covenant? If we! Who are suppose to be believers in Christ, do not seek God after the due order (what He ordained through the apostles) we also will be guilty of offending God. While it is true that no one would INTENTIONALLY offend God. Pastors and teachers have unfortunately made the mistake of using the DUE ORDER of service under the Old Testament as their guideline for seeking God today, and have used private interpretation of scripture in place of the oversight of the apostles office to outline for themselves the due order of service in their assembly, and have passed on this offensive practice to the rest of the Body. As a result, the due order of serving God has been compromised. The example of faith the Old testament saints left us to follow (Heb. 12:1) is being confused with types and shadows (Heb. 10:1). We know that the example of faith the Old Testament saints left us is seen in HOW they walked with God, and the types and shadows have to do with the foreshadowing of the New Testament service to God through the Old Covenant duties. Believers want to walk with God like Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses. They want to be giant men of faith, but it is not the faith of these men that they follow, but the due order of service they follow in an attempt to do what they did in order to enter into their blessing. Instead of following the example of faith, it is a biblical principle that is formulated from the testimonies of these men that we rely on to somehow guide us into the promises of God. What examples did these men leave us? Enoch walked with God by serving Him under the conditions which God set for him at the time. Enochs obedience to these conditions was termed to be his faith in God. Noah walked with God by serving Him under the conditions that God set for him at the time (to build the ark). His obedience to these conditions was termed to be his faith in God. Abraham walked perfectly with God by serving Him under the conditions God set for him (to leave his country and to go into a land that God would show him, to receive the covenant of circumcision, and to sacrifice his son Isaac). His obedience to these conditions was termed to be his faith in God. The due order of service these saints gave to God lay in the conditions God set for them. The Jewish nation served God under the conditions God set for them through Moses. He issued the due order of service to God, dictating how they were to serve Him. We are to walk with God by serving Him under the conditions He set for us through Christ. This is how we follow the EXAMPLE of Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses. Our obedience to these conditions is termed to be our faith in God. In this manner we are following the same pattern of obedience to revelation. These are the types and shadows of Christ seen in the ark (Christ is our ark, and we are saved only if we abide in Him), and there are types and shadows seen in Abrahams sacrifice of Isaac (God send His only begotten Son into the world and made Him the sacrifice for our sins). All of the Old Testament contact points concerning the cleansing laws, the Sabbath laws, the laws of holiness, sanctification, ect. are types of what Christ now does in the believer. We cannot show our faith in God by building an ark, or sacrificing our children, or by keeping the cleansing laws. These are passed away (Heb. 8:13), but the example of faith lives on, and so does the meaning of these things as they pointed to Christ. In the absence of grace of true apostles, the Body of Christ has resorted to COPYING what they read in the Old Testament, and carrying that order of service into the New Covenant, claiming to FOLLOW THE FAITH of the Old Testament saints, and at the same time justifying what they are doing by trying some meaning to Christ. This is why christians still tithe, perform Jericho marches in their church, observe the ten commandments, wait for the still small voice, try to claim the blessings of Abraham to be lands and wealth, and health. Talk about a mantle being passed on to them concerning the measure of grace another experience in their ministry. This is what has happened in the area of praise and worship. We read in 1Chron. 15:16-22, And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers of instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding by lifting up the voice with joy. From this scripture we see that the Levites appointed those to sing and those with skill to play musical instruments. The Church reasons like this, If David, who highly pleased the Lord, sang and played music before God, then I must also follow his example of faith and include music and song in my service to God, in my walk with God, and then I also will be pleasing to God. But David was pleasing to God because he was walking with God by serving Him under the conditions God set for him. Davids praise through song and music did not stop God from passing judgment on him when david did not seek Him after the due order. The Church also thinks that the appointment of the Levitical singers and those who played upon musical instruments is a type and shadow of how the saints should use music and song in the assembly today as the service that is due to God. These scriptures are erroneously used to teach that God established our pattern of praise and worship by giving the Old Testament examples. The practice of serving God through music and song is thought to be a means of fulfilling the shadow. The scripture that is used to support this activity is Heb. 8:5 which says, Who serve unto the EXAMPLE and SHADOW of heavenly things... We must understand that every type and shadow of the Old Testament was FULFILLED IN CHRIST. The new law that He set within Himself fulfills every service that was performed under the Old Covenant under the law of Moses. This is why He spoke the sermon on the mount. Jesus said, You have heard that it was said by them of old time. You shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire, (Mat 5:21,22). The law of Moses addressed the act of murder, the law of grace addresses the thoughts and motives of the heart. This is why Jesus said, I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, (Mat. 5:17). Jesus came to heal the soul from the distortion of iniquity from which comes the evil thoughts and motives, thus fulfilling (satisfying) the demands of the law upon our character. But the Church has taken the words of Jesus that He spoke on that mountain to formulate (praise-worthy acts). And it is from these formulated acts that they feel their due order of service lies. This results in a false righteousness and false holiness. We must remember that a shadow can never be fulfilled by copying the shadow itself. For example, the Old Testament service of washings under the Levitcal law was only the shadow of the washings that was fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Through the baptism of the Holy Spirit Jesus continues to cleanse the soul from its former contact with iniquity (Heb. 10.22; Titus 3:5). But some (because of ignorance) teach that the WATER baptism is the fulfilling of the shadow of Old testament washings, that Jesus uses water to cleanse the soul and seal the convert. Water Was THE SHADOW...WATER CANNOT BE USED TO FULFILL ITSELF IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. A shadow cannot cast a shadow, it is only an image of something else, but not the reality in itself. It represents something else. Water represented what God would do through the Spirit under the New Covenant. A believers activity with water baptism now is but a COPY of what was done in the Old Testament, not yet the reality of Christs baptism through the Spirit. To copy the shadow cannot fulfill the service due to God. A New Testament believer cannot walk with God by using the conditions God set for the Old Testament saints through the contact point of water. The due order of seeking God now is through the contact points of the Spirit that washes our soul. The same holds true for the service of MUSIC and SINGING that was practiced in the Old Testament. This due service was only a shadow of praise that would be fulfilled in Christ in the New Covenant. Praise through music and song was the SHADOW...music and song CANNOT be used to FULFILL ITSELF in the New Testament. A shadow cannot fulfill itself. A shadow cannot cast a shadow, it is only an image of something else, but not the reality in itself. It (represents) something else. The fulfillment of the shadow of service to God through praise must be through Christ... for He is the end of the law, (Rom. 10:4). This does not mean that in the New Testament assembly we sing about Christ, but that CHRIST GIVES US THE TOOLS FOR OUR PRAISE. Christ SETS THE LAW FOR OUR WORSHIP, for only then can we seek God after the due order (worshiping God in Spirit and in truth) under the conditions that God set through Christ Jesus our Lord. The question for man is, what is a seemly method of expressing DEVOTION to God?? Having followed his own instincts he used the imaginations of his own heart to decorate and enrich his service to God, instead of remaining in the boundaries of worship God already set. s8wministries.org/
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:26:03 +0000
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