Our Duty to God and to Believers

Text: Ephesians 5:19-20

Paul tells us something of what the local church in Ephesus would have been like, teaches the Ephesians a little bit about worship and community, and gives us an inkling – a glimpse, of what a modern Christian fellowship should look like. Let’s see that:

1 The Early Church Was a Singing Church! 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Singing is usually an expression of happiness. The happiness of the Greek cities came out of a bottle, and no doubt revelry, and rowdy and raucous singing was a symptom of their drunkenness. But the Christian Church, when it met, sang praise unto the Lord from a full heart, not from a full stomach!

Look at how we are to sing…

• Singing and speaking. 19 Speaking to yourselves. The key to understanding this is in the phrase ‘to yourselves.’ Of course, when we sing praise to God, that praise is primarily directed to him. But it is also to communicate truth to our fellow worshippers, so that we can all join in that praise and raise our voices in a collective Amen. Our praise must be edifying to the body of Christ. We communicate, – we ‘speak’ to one another, as we sing.

• Singing from the heart. singing and making melody in your heart. Singing God’s praise is not a mechanical operation of the vocal cords alone! It is heartfelt, – it must come directly from hearts that have been renewed, made new by regeneration, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The psalmist David, prayed, “Create in me a new heart, and renew a rightful spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10.

• Singing unto the Lord. That’s an important lesson to learn in the modern church. Sadly, in modern praise, singing has become something of a performance. But Paul teaches us here that everything we do in worship, including our song, ought to be done for the Lord’s glory, not for self-praise, glorifying Him, not our own musical ability.

Incidentally, Wm. Hendriksen thinks ‘making melody’ might refer to the use of musical instruments. We shall go no further with that one! So, we are to sing to the Lord, edifying one another in our song, and we are to sing praise out of hearts that have been cleansed and made new, and we are to sing for God’s praise, not ours.

2 The Early Church Was a Thankful Church. 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

The Heidelberg Catechism teaches us that we are to be grateful, – it’s divided into three parts, Guilt, grace and gratitude. We are to be grateful Christians. Being a grateful believer involves Christian thanksgiving:

• When we should give thanks. ALWAYS. It’s easy to be thankful when we have received some blessing, or when things are going well for us. And it is right to do so. But what about when things are not so good, – when circumstances are against us? In the belly of the fish, the prophet Jonah had much to complain about, much to regret, much to weep over. He’s as good as in the grave. What does he do? “Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly, and said, …I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah 2:1,9. Paul too, then in prison in Rome, writing to these Ephesians, gave thanks, – in prison! Ephesians 1:16 That’s when we give thanks – even when circumstances are against us. In fact even when we are worried sick! Philippians 4:6.

• What we should give thanks for. FOR ALL THINGS. One good example is the weather. We are even to be thankful on the worst of days! After all, in Romans 8:28, we are told that …all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

• How we should give thanks. In the name of THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Because he is our mediator, – it is only because of him that our prayers and praise can be acceptable to God, we can come no other way, but through Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 And he intercedes for us, – brings our prayers and petitions before the throne of God in glory. Hebrews 7:25 We come to God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

• To Whom we should give thanks, TO GOD, our Heavenly Father. Just ‘be grateful for what you have…’ is not enough. Everything that we have in life belongs to God, blessings that are his to give and to withhold, according to his sovereignty. James 1:17 We are thankful unto God.

So let us be thankful people! And especially let us always be thankful for our wonderful, great salvation that we have in Christ.

3 The Early Church Was a Respectful Church. 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Singing praise to God, and rendering thanks to him, are DUTIES of the Christian life. Things that we cannot and must not neglect. But remember that we live in a Christian community, and while we must love the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds, we must also love and serve our neighbours as ourselves. So we should have…

• Respect for one another. Jesus is our example. In John 13 he took a towel, and to their surprise and shock, he began to wash his disciples feet. I’m not suggesting that we should literally do that! But that we should follow the underlying principle that he was teaching. John 13:13-15  If we are Christ’s disciples, then we do not regard ourselves as better than anyone else. The one who is the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all. Philippians 2:3 The basis of this mutual respect comes from our…

• Reverence for God. Paul makes reference here to ‘the fear of God.’ He’s speaking about reverence! About respect for God, the Creator, the Lord God, – the God who is Almighty. And yet, we know that the Holy, powerful God to whom we will answer in glory, is with us, and hears every word we say, knows our hearts, – and who see how we think and act towards others, and we temper our relationships with that knowledge.

So, respecting one another, and living in God’s presence, as the universal church, and as local assemblies, we should be presenting a united front to this ungodly world, in which we are called to live the Christian life, standing out from the crowd, a witness for the Lord.

© Bob McEvoy May 2024