MUSICENTER THE LAST DAYS

TODAY’S DISCOURSE

• The issue of music has been a cause of controversy in the church's discourse. Only last year, we heard that UFIC had discouraged its members from listening to Winky D's award winning 'Disappear'. Some churches have been known to ban their members from listening to music other than gospel affectionately known as secular music. Some churches do not dance to music in their sessions due to doctrine. There was deep-seated social rage when Fungisai turned to ZimDancehall. My former youth leader at Chiedza Chenyika RCZ Morgenster, now Harare InnerCity Pastor – Masimba Tafadzwa - would always warn us that certain music, if listened to would make us behave likewise but most of us would none of it. These have been the highlights of the Music controversy, ladies and gentlemen.

A TRACE OF MUSIC IN THE BIBLE

• Let us turn to the Bible now. The first instance of a musician is found in Genesis 4:21. We heard from Charamba how the tunes played by Asaph & co commanded King David to the dancefloor. His wife Michal reprimanded him for dishonouring his throne by getting so low on the dancefloor (2 SAMUEL 6:20). Magacha called us to remember how music brought down the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6:2). Prophecy flows due to music and demons were chased away due to it - 2 Kings 3:15 & 1 Samuel 16:23. It also plays a part in celebrations, praise, bereavement and remembrance - Exodus 15, 1 Samuel 18:17, 2 Samuel 1:17, Deuteronomy 31:22. David was also hated because of the Israeli women who always sang praises for him when he entered the city saying David has killed tens of thousands and Saul only thousands. I can see Miriam leading the praise and worship just at the shores of the Red Sea whilst also remembering how Paul and Silas’ singing in chains shackled their chains off and shook the foundations of the prison.

THE TEST OF MUSIC’S TASTE

• Ladies & gentlemen, those were just instances of music. Now we want to hear about what we should listen to. Let's turn scriptural again for the Bible is infallible and its Scriptures omniscient - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.• Job 12:11 & 34:3 concur that the ear tests words as much as the tongue tastes

food. Paul lambasts the do not handle, touch & taste approach in Colosians 2:21. Ecclesiastes 7:5 says it is better to listen to heed rebuke than to listen to songs of fools and 1 Corinthians notes that the wisdom of this world is foolishness. 2 Timothy 3 talks about the attributes of the last days. Romans 1:28-32 talks about approving things which are sinful knowingly and doing them. Watch out for Part 2 tomorrow, God willing as we take the course from these verses.

CONT’D

• To continue from where we left, the Scriptures from Job say the ear can test. So we need to apply this test to music to see if it is really suitable for our being. Like the tongue tests suitability for the stomach, the ear tests suitability for the heart, mind, spirit and ultimately our faith. But we need to remember that poisonous food can really be dangerous even to taste. Our faith needs to stay pure and it can be diluted by what we hear for faith comes from hearing- Romans 10:17. Anything against our faith should not be listened to. We know the matters that build our faith.

PICTURE OF THE LAST DAYS

• 2 Timothy 3 encapsules the last days. Boastfulness, pride, money loving, disobedience, headstrong, lovers of pleasure etc. Verse 6 is grammatical in indicating how people will be influenced by painting a picture of persons who worm their way into homes and control weak-willed women. The 'worming into' part refers to a discreet, stealth, surreptitious entry just like that of a thief gaining entry into a house without noise. That's the thief, Satan for you. Gaining entry into the heart and then using it to control your thoughts and actions since it is a central point - Mathew 15:18. The use of the term women in this verse is not just to mean women are the only victims but is again used for dramatic effect. It is meant to portray how Satan seduces the people to go his way. I know music is one of the ways Satan uses to seduce people and deceive them. Satan uses it deliver his message and spread his gospel - hiding his lies in tunes, fascinating lyrics, soothing rhythms to gain entry into our hearts the thief way. And by hearing his gospel we believe on it and that compromises our faith in God, making it impossible to please Him.

A STRONG MAN’S HOUSE

• Being Christians we are naturally stronger. That is why the devil is referred to as the thief who steals. Stealing is not robbing. Robbery involves the use of force and is done openly – the robber makes a demand and uses force so that you yield in. But theft is more subtle, is not open but a secret and discreet way of taking someone’s property.

• So music is one of the thieving ways of the devil but not all music is ungodly. Satan knows that he cannot force us to be proud, sexually immoral, dress seductively, disobedient etc but he uses the influence of music so that such things become acceptable to us, being packaged in a subtle way.

• He uses music to cast a spell that binds us, we who are naturally strong. Our strength is that naturally we are enemies with evil. You see whem Man disobeyed God, God put enmity between him and the snake. And we know the snake cannot defeat a man except by biting him and inserting poison that binds his strength to weaken him. Otherwise the snake is not strong. So God put enmity so that naturally, we do not want to associate with evil in the first place.

THE ONE IN THAT PICTURE NOW SEEN IN THE FLESH• If you look at Zimdancehall, you will see that most of its songs characterises on a grand

scale the vices that mark the end of times. The message in most songs oppose the truth. In verse 5 of the given chapter, we are instructed to have nothing to with such people so does Psalms 1:1. By listening to such songs, I believe we will be walking the same path with these people, sitting in the court of the ungodly and sharing in their evil. We must not listen to such songs. I am not saying we should not listen to music other than gospel music, no! For Phillipians 4:8 says whatever is noble, pure, virtuous, lovely, of good character ... give heed to it. Do we have secular music that characterises the above? Yes we have it, even though it's not gospel e.g some of Tuku music. To gospel songs, add these to your playlists. Hapana Satani ipapa pakuteerera dzisiri dzechechi but just kuti it should meet the criteria given in Philippians 4:8.

BE CHALLENGED

• But you should be challenged by ungodly messages just as David was when Goliath was boasting and insulting the Living God meaning you will not be entertained by something against the pure, good faith in Jesus. You should be disturbed by songs such as Kana Ndadhakwa and not listen to them. You will remember how Jesus went mad at merchants who plied their trade inside the temple – John 2:16. Your body is the temple of the Most High, in which the Spirit dwells as a born again and such music cannot be found in this temple. Such songs insult the Holy Spirit as a common thing and profane the temple of your body. When it is said your body is your temple, your mind is also included. The mind/ heart can be classified as the altar in the Holy of Holies for God looks at the heart of all action - Jeremiah 17:10. And David says that I hid Your Word in my heart so that I do not sin against You. We should jealously guard what goes into our hearts and what we listen for it goes into our mind – see it that you hide God’s Word in your heart that you cannot have a place for songs that encourage or promote the vices of the devil. Can the temple of God’s worship have a place for songs on boasting, sexual immorality, drunkenness, hatred etc?

SUCH MUSIC LIKE ALCOHOLIC WINE

• When Paul says in Ephesians 5:18 that we are filled with the Holy Spirit by singing spiritual songs, psalms and hymns in our hearts. It also means we are filled with unclean spirits when we listen intimately to such songs. At the beginning of this verse, he instructs us not to be drunk with wine which leads to debauchery. I take the wine to mean such music classifying the vices of the devil and not the virtues of God for this leads to debauchery. Debauchery is the state of being corrupt morally and losing self-control or soundness of mind. This is what occurs when one gets drunk – they lose sense of mind and morality. One gets intoxicated by these songs till boasting becomes normal, sexual impurity & drunkenness will be acceptable as well as hatred and disobedience to parents. Thus they lose their sense of mind. You see these sinful things are not normally acceptable to Man because God created enmity between men and the devil, so the devil now makes these things acceptable through the appeal of music. And after the music has bound the strong man through its aesthetic spell, the devil now has a free reign – for a strong man needs to be bound first. (Genesis 3:15) But God gave us a sound mind through His Spirit – 2 Timothy 1:7 to reject such unsound words.

HEED REBUKE

• Ecclesiastes 7:5 says its better to heed rebuke than listen to the song of fools. There are many songs that advise, rebuke, encourage us in good things but cannot be classified as gospel. The lyrics are clean and are not against the truth. You will know that God did not want man to be alone. So he gave us companions to entertain, assist, encourage, rebuke and advise. And we must appreciate this if it comes through music. We just cannot be found extolling the vices of the devil like drunkenness, fornication, disobedience, drug abuse, boastfulness and slander etc as evident in most songs. Listening to such songs and singing along to them means we are on the path of sin - Amos 3:3 and Psalms 1:1. For can one listen to a song without approving of it? For the purpose of this sermon, listening is not the same as hearing. It’s that you hear first before you decide to listen more!

OF MASTERS AND BREAD• Can one serve two masters, can one spring issue both salty water and fresh water? (Mathew

6:24 &James 3:12;)The answer is NO. For how can the mouth sing praise to God and at other times, usually most of the time, sing of sin like pride, boastfulness etc. The heart is the spring, ladies and gentlemen AND God looks at the heart to judge - Jeremiah 17:10; 1 Samuel 16:7. Sin can also be hardened on the heart - Jeremiah 17:1 and 1 Timothy 4:1-2. The basis of my analogy is that music goes from ear to the heart.• You have heard that men shall not live by bread alone but by every Word coming from God.

This verse says yes we need bread, that is things to satisfy our daily needs like entertainment for example but that bread should not be polluted by idols or sacrificed to idols.• 1 Corinthians 10v• 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not

want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

THE DEVIL’S PRAISE AND WORSHIP SESSIONS• I wish you to know that songs that are premised the vices of evil like

immorality, drunkenness, disobedience are like praise and worship sessions of Satan.• So if we hear such songs, let us know that this is a praise and worship

dedicated to Satan. But if we listen to them songs now, we will have attended his session. And then some will sing along and some will dance in this session. And God will be provoked that my people are now attending praise & worship sessions for the devil – not only that but participating in them!

THE CLOSE• Remember, we are the temple of God, whose Spirit dwells in you, O Christians! - 1

Corinthians 6:19. Our bodies are to be a holy, living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) that offers a pleasant aroma of service to God. So, it pleases not God, to see His temple filled with messages of hate, immorality, rebellion and disobedience in our hearts. He will be seeing a profane, defiled, dead sacrifice due to listening to ungodly music which creates death in us through sin. Let us hide His Word in our hearts ( Psalms 119:11) so that we feel disturbed when something ungodly tries to enter. So that we feel that our faith is challenged by messages from Satan no matter how good the music is. Its poison. And poison is laced unto edible food that is deliciously cooked so that it finds eaters to die. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit in us (Ephesians 4:30) nor quench it ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19) by pouring cold water on it through ungodly music.

ACTIVITY 1 – ANALYSING SOME SONGS

Disappear by Winky D -This song contains a catch phrase used in magical intonations, abracadabra.God Himself is against magicians and does not want us to follow them. ( Deutronomy 18:10-11

Mawayawaya by Shinso – the song pays homage to ancestors when it is sang that tadira doro pasi, tafadza vari pasi kana maancestor yeeh.

City sports kwaifaya by Killer T – a song with a touch of boastfulness all over it. So is Dhewa’s Muchina Muhombe which is a self-praising song as much as Macheso’s Kwatabva Mitunhu.

So are we gonna attend Satan’s praise and worship session because of an ungodly song’s good feel? We need not be participating in songs which praise the devil’s works. Amen

ACTIVITY 2 – VIDEOS OF SOME SONGS

• Some songs have nothing ungodly on their own but their videos have ungodly content.• What would you do? Judge for yourselves and blessed is he

who doesn’t condemn himself in what he approves. Just do not let that faith be misplaced!

FURTHER REFERENCE• 1 John 5:21

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.• Jonah 3:8 Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty• 1 Corinthians 10:14

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.• Proverbs 4:31

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.• Romans 1

28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

AUTHOR• Priviledge Haruzivi• 0739381716• privyharu@gmail.com• Can also be found on Facebook

using the given name• Twitter handle @PriviledgeHaruz

Just be careful that one good song might lead

you to the bad ones by the same artist. One who says he stands

should be aware lest he fall. In that case it would

be better that the person not listen to non-

gospel songs.