THE GLORY BY SANCTIFICATION

II Chronicles 5:11-12 (11) And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: (12) Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)

To my fellow reader and follower in the faith, I felt compelled, inspired, and unctioned to write about the music in the Church. As I myself am a musician and currently function in this specific gift of music that God has given me, in the church I attend, I take seriously and believe one who is used in any position in the church, must be sanctified. I write to give insight and encourage all to live a sanctified life before the Lord.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

When King Solomon completed the work of building the House of God (David’s Tabernacle), something tremendous took place once the Levites (ordained priesthood) transitioned the ark of the covenant from a tent into the new temple, then being sanctified and then playing their instruments and shouting with a loud voice giving thanks to God. Once that took place it was recorded that the Glory of God filled the House of the Lord!

II Chronicles 5:13-14 (13) It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; (14) So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

As a young disciple that I am, with much experience that still waits before me, I have noticed something absolutely wrong among this generation within the house of God. I don’t say this just to boast and rave about how wrong the church is at this time, but rather to allow the Holy Spirit to pluck our hearts in a place of righteous anguish and cry out, not for the Holy Spirit to change the church across the street, but to chance us…who are called to be the church. That we would feel the seriousness and pain of distorted music in the house of God, distorted in the sense of coming from those who are unsanctified. Remember in Isaiah 6, when Isaiah gives the account of the vision he had and the glory of the Lord filled the temple? He then realized he was a man of unclean lips, his mouth wasn’t sanctified, but then once he confessed it, a seraphim came from the heavenlies and cleansed his lips. God wants to sanctify us and our mouth, in order for acceptable praise to be ushered forth out of us.

Though this applies to every believer to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, I want to direct this toward musicians in the house of God. Now, only God knows the hearts of man, however I am saddened to see many musicians who grew up in the Church and then backslide and walked out from their relationship with Christ! Many in my generation don’t even KNOW what it is like to be in a church where the Glory of God fills the place! Why? Because there are some who do not live sanctified before the Lord! I say this because it is by the result of a minister’s non-consecrated life style that the rest of the body thinks its okay to live not consecrated! (This mostly includes those who are babes in Christ, within the body.) The Glory of God will only dwell within a Holy and consecrated child of God, which is acceptable and required in God’s will for any individual that calls himself Christian or better yet…a disciple! It’s a requirement from God to all of us…bottom line.

The Bible says the Levites, after carrying the ark and then being sanctified, they began to blow the trumpets and sing in one accord, with one sound!

Today in the church there are many sounds! Many of people who boast in the gifts of music that God alone has given them, go to be heard and yet “justifyingly” saying it’s for the glory of God, yet they never bore the Glory upon their shoulders! You see the Levites were ordained to bear the ark…the holder of God’s presence. The Levites were the ordained priesthood and they were the means of transferring the Glory of God from the tabernacle of Moses to the Tabernacle of David. But now through Christ Jesus we are called to be part of the royal priesthood, to be holy within the Kingdom of God, it doesn’t matter whether you are Jew or Gentile, we are saved by grace and all called to be citizen of the same Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. We are called to bear God’s presence within us and upon us, as we live our life Holy before God, that His spirit within us may not be quenched, but dwell within and flow throughout, touching the lives of others and establishing God’s life, His Kingdom, His love throughout and within all the earth! We are called to host the Presence of God everywhere we go!!! That, my fellow reader, is the number one priority and responsibility with in your life, whether you’re a Pastor or a stay at home mother!!!

Yet, why do we have many musicians in the House of God, auditioning in “Gospel” contests to see who is the best Gospel singer? What is this? Do we not know that God, the Lord Jesus Christ is NO respecter of persons? Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: Acts 10:34. There are too many sounds in the House of God! We need one sound, a prophetic sound, a sound that influences the Glory of God to come down from the throne room by the Spirit, and capture the hearts of the redeemed! A sound that is so born by the Spirit that it ignites the hearts of Prophets to speak to sound and clear mind of God in the present hour! Yet now many settle for just a simple touch from God and not His word! It’s not enough to get a little touch from God! A touch from God won’t change this generation, I dare to say that it won’t FULLY change you IF you are already saved! We have grown accustomed to God’s touch and yet not glorified Him for it! We need to be arrested! When God comes and handcuffs our heart and calls us out by name! That, my beloved, will transform a generation causing them to know there true identity as Kings and Priests under the authority of Christ, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Philippians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, …being of one accord, of one mind.

David was a man after God’s heart, not a musician after God’s heart…but He was a man. We must come to realize that we are man and He (Christ) is God. Nothing we do comes from genetics of our earthly lineage, but it comes from the loving gift of the Holy Ghost, from the inheritance of our heavenly lineage, bought by the blood of Jesus!

Many say that there is a new sound in the generation within the church and I agree. However, we just have to be discerning of the sound. The Bible says that the Levite singers and musicians shouted and were praising the Lord saying “For He is good and His mercy endureth forever!” Right after that, the bible says…“That THEN the house was filled with a cloud (God’s glory), even the house of the Lord (II Chron. 5:13). The praise got so powerful and unleashed the radiant Glory of the Kingdom, of the King Himself, that all 120 Levite ministers could not stand, because of the cloud of the Glory that filled the House of God. They were drawn to their knees! No voice can utter a sound, because the resounding sound of God’s glory filled the place and overpowered! Consider the event in Acts 2:2-4 (2) when they (disciples of Christ) gathered in ONE accord in ONE place, that SUDDENLY there came a SOUND from heaven AS a rushing mighty wind, and it filled ALL, not some, but ALL the house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared UNTO THEM cloven tongues LIKE as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. (4) and they were FILLED with the Holy Ghost, and BEGAN to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Notice how there was 120 Levites that attended and witnessed this mighty outpouring of God's glory in the Tabernacle of David and we see in the book of Acts how there were 120 disciples who experinced the mighty outpouring of God in the Tabernacle of Christ, the beginning of the Church, the time at Pentecost!

We don’t hear about that as much any more. That the glory of God swept up a church, a community, a region, that no man would dare try to stand when the Glory enters and fills to room. Why? Because the minstrels who are ordained priests did not bear the presence of God and were not sanctified, there fore gave no entrance to the flock into the gates of true Praise, which is in God’s Glory. Rather more of the world is influencing the church then the church influencing the world. Our hearts must be right and pure before the Lord. You might not be a minister that functions in the church with an instrument, but God has made you to be a minstrel yourself. He gave us all voices to sing of His goodness. Notice the Levites shout praises about how good He is, not how good He is ….to us. Yes, the Lord is great and gracious to us and that’s wonderful, but whatever happened to just singing songs proclaiming God’s great authority and Lordship? About God being merciful to others. I am very thankful of God’s mercy toward me and I thank Him for it, but I believe we can give ourselves a break, just stop always thinking about ourselves. Especially those in music ministry. I think if we just stop thinking about ourselves all the time, we would actually be quick to think of God’s mercy toward others and rejoice in it. We always have ourselves to come back to when we want, but I say that we are to thank God for His goodness alone. By that we are giving reference to what He has done to us, though we must always give thanks to Him in ALL things! The Levites were created to minister before the Lord and to constantly perform the service of God for the rest of Israel. To enforce the law of God’s commandments and statutes. But now as called out priests, called to represent the testimony of Christ, we are here to reflect and encourage all into a relationship with Him!

Also not just the Levites, but Israel prepared for the Sabbath. Not just music ministers on Sunday services, but all of us should be preparing our hearts for when we gather together to exalt our Lord and King corporately. I encourage and challenge you, prepare even the night before service, before corporate gatherings, and just spend time in the Word of God and in fellowship with Him, singing praises unto His name, praying for the church service, for God’s spirit to flow according to His will and purpose. Pray in the spirit and allow the Spirit that makes intercession to guide your prayers into the very mind of God.

The music ministry is an example (model) of what is expected to be seen in the congregation. As a music minister functions in leading the flock into praise and worship, as a congregation member you ought to look at the example of the minister as they bear witness of the testimony of Christ through praise and worship. Helping to bring the rest of the body of Christ into the courts of thanksgiving, into the realm of true praise and worship. That even when the instruments fade and stop playing, the song of the Spirit is being unctioned throughout the corporate body. Such a realm that the glory of God is made manifested, the host of heaven joins in, in such sweet worship and exaltation to the King.

I encourage all of us to worship God in spirit and in truth! Not just in some spirit that influences us to leave out the truth of God’s Mercy, His authority, His gift of Repentance, or His standard of sanctification. The Levites were able and authorized to move God’s glory (the ark) from one place to another. I believe that when God brings us from glory to glory, it’s because we are going from place to place bearing the presence of God and knowing our identity as a sanctified and ordained priest authorized by Christ and licensed by the Holy Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:18)

Sanctified: made holy; consecrated, to purify or free from sin: Sanctify your hearts, to impart religious sanction to; render legitimate or binding: to sanctify a vow, to make productive of or conducive to spiritual blessing.

To be sanctified is to be spiritually sanitized. By receiving the Holy Spirit, we become sanitized daily, IF we submit to His work and not quench it. For example, you wouldn’t want to use a pan or pot to cook with if it hasn’t been sanitized and cleansed from the food you cooked in it a week prior. Why is that? Because the filth will taint the food you are cooking. The same it is with God! We are to offer sweet praise and worship unto Him, worship through our obedience to His word as well. God doesn’t want to receive any sweet smell of exaltation if the vessel (individual) has not been sanitized from death. Like, with me, I use to sing, dance, and engage in death defying music, but once I repented, turned from sin, baptized in Jesus, and became sanitized by the infilling of the Holy Ghost and His constant work within, I became a sanctified vessel to host and spread forth the presence of God…and so are you!

As my Pastor would say, God created the sparrow and the song that it sings. The song bears witness to the testimony of God’s creation. The sparrow sings its God given song throughout the earth, wherever it goes. But if the sparrow dies and the song is no longer heard within the earth…God get’s concerned. The song of God’s greatness ceased. Well I am here to tell you my fellow reader that God placed a song in you! God, by His loving son Jesus Christ, has made available a life changing sanctification to invade your life twenty four seven. But if we allow death to enter into us and allow Satan’s influence to quench our song to be heard within this world, then we bring great concern to our Father. Our praise, our admiration to God is to be sung out throughout the earth. We are called to testify of His goodness and give thanks unto Him. How much greater are you then the sparrow? So sing that song in your heart and thank God for His authority over your life and the earth, for His mercy endureth forever!

Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

God Bless