More Than Music | Dr. Jerry Mason

Lord bless you this morning. Let's let's stand for the

reading of the word of the Lord. We're going to be turning your

attention to the book of Second Chronicles chapter 5.

2 Chronicles 5 · chapter mention

What a privilege it is to have everyone in the House of God

with us this morning. And if you're online joining

with us, thank you for being here.

We appreciate that. Give honor to pastor and Bishop.

I know they're not here this morning.

I know their mind is attentive to what is happening here.

Love and appreciate them for their leadership and their

ministry. Love and appreciate my wife give

her honor today. I I would be lost without her

and appreciate her so so very much and my son and

daughter-in-law for all of their ministries and and work and

effort in the Kingdom of God. I love and appreciate and honor

them today for the Zach, Sister Berlin, They're not in here, but

they're working and I appreciate them.

It's good to look back there this morning to see Brother Pat.

Hey, man, it's good to see you this morning.

Thank you for being in the House of God today.

Thank you for coming home today. Second Chronicles chapter 5 and

2 Chronicles 5 · chapter mention

verse #13 the Bible says it came even to pass as the trumpeters

and singers, or as one to make one sound to be heard and

praising and thanking the Lord. And when they lifted up their

voice with the trumpets and symbols and instruments of music

and praise the Lord, saying, for he is good, for his mercy

endureth forever, that then the house was filled with the cloud,

even the House of the Lord. We'll be teaching for a little

bit this morning. Ten years ago, it's hard to

believe that a decade has passed, but ten years ago I

taught a three-part series that happened to be in the month of

November on music. And I'm, I'm not rehashing that

entire three weeks today, but I did feel in my heart today to

bring something. And I know that my son a couple

of weekends ago did something on a Sunday night regarding music

that I absolutely loved. It's amazing and outstanding.

I want to actually pick up where he left off and maybe take it

just another step on this subject today, more than music,

there are there are churches that don't have music and by

extension of the word music this morning.

I'm not just talking about instrumental playing, but music

is a term that we use that is often synonymous with leading us

into the idea of worship and praise.

So it's it's an important part of our Christian fundamentals

and foundation today. So that's what I want to be

talking about this morning. The Lord bless you.

You may be seated today. The Bible tells us in the book

of Second Chronicles, chapter 5 that both the singers and the

2 Chronicles 5 · chapter mention

musicians were as one. If you have ever been in a

church service where that this was not the case, you will

understand why this is important.

There might not be any greater distraction from the presence of

God than confusion. The word one in the statement

comes from the Hebrew word ekhad, which we know from

Deuteronomy. 6/4 Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is 1 Lord.

We know this to be the definition of one that is found

there united 1 alone all together.

In the same manner that we declare the oneness of God, we

must also stand before God in worship, in music, and in

singing, as one. One voice, one team, one

purpose, one anointing, one in praise, one in worship, one in

obedience to the Spirit of God, so that truly we can declare as

the psalmist did in Psalm 133. And one, behold, how good and

pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Unity does not mean necessarily that we agree on everything.

It means that we can exist together in everything.

Unity occurs whenever I disagree with you, but I can still stand

beside you in worship. Let me let me peel that back

just a little deeper this morning.

And I don't want to go too deep on a Sunday morning because you

either got bed on your mind or lunch, I don't know which.

But if we can't stand beside each other and praise and

worship in unity, then our praise isn't about Him.

So let's look a little deeper at Second Chronicles 513.

I'll read it one more time. It came even to pass as the

trumpeters and singers was one to make one sound, everybody say

1 sound to be heard and praising and thanking the Lord.

And when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and

symbols and instruments of music and praise the Lord saying for

he is good for his mercy endureth forever that then the

house was filled with the cloud, even the House of the Lord.

Not only were they together in a spirit and attitude of unity and

oneness, but they made one sound.

Now if we were if we were singing Jesus, I love you up

here and you were singing I'll fly away back there.

That could be a problem. It's, it's important that we as

the body of Christ remain and get ourselves positioned in

unity in the House of God so that together we're making one

sound. I don't want to get ahead of

myself this morning, but I'll, I'll say, say this.

We need to make one sound even when you don't like the song

we're singing. Because I'm telling you right

now. I've told you before, I'll

repeat myself just because it's important.

There are songs we sing I don't like.

There are songs we sing. I don't like to play, I don't

like to sing. I don't like the words, I don't

like the harmony. I don't.

There are some songs I don't like anything about it.

I'm not going to tell you which ones they are, but there are a

few of them. Well, why do you sing them?

Because it's not about me, it's about him.

And you just might like it and that's OK.

But you know, one thing I've learned in recent years and, and

I'm not, I'm not on any soapbox this morning.

I'm, I'm, I'm being sincere with my statement here.

But one thing I've learned in recent years is it really

doesn't matter what song we sing.

I'm not talking about following the leading of God and, and

singing the right song at the right moment.

I'm not, I'm not talking against that because that has its place.

What I'm talking about is I used to have this idea that older,

more mature people, I'm, I'm trying to behave, Sister

Margaret. I used to have this idea that

people of a certain age group liked hymnals and that young

folks only liked new songs. That was my belief that that's

what I thought up until recent years when it finally occurred

to me, watch me here. I'm going to be careful and I'm

going to be polite and respectful, but I'm being

sincere. It finally occurred to me that

the older folks that I thought liked hymnals didn't worship

anymore when we sang a hymnal than they did when we sang a new

song. And the younger folks didn't

worship any less when we sang a hymnal than they did when we

sang a new song. Now everybody's going to have

their favorites. I understand that you should.

That's just life. But when we truly come together

in unity, and when we truly come together with Jesus as our focal

point, it doesn't matter if we're singing, I'll fly away,

Power in the blood. Oh, I want to see him or Jesus.

I love you or you deserve it. Those aren't exactly new, but

they're newer compared to my hymnal examples.

It doesn't matter because He is the focal point of both.

Both will inevitably reach an audience differently, but I no

longer believe they reach a different audience because I

have heard young people in the recent couple of years say, man,

I've never heard that. I like that.

Now we could stop and say, yeah, we've been trying to tell you

that for years. But no, because there's nothing

wrong with either demographic. So it it cannot and it must not

be an internal war of mature folks against young folks.

This has to be a unification of the body of Christ because we're

singing to Him, we're worshipping to him.

It's about him. So unity is not optional in what

we do. If we don't have unity, talent

no longer matters. Now we often say if we don't

have anointing, talent doesn't matter, and I agree with that

too. But if we don't have unity, if

we don't have unity, you're not going to have anointing.

That's right. That's right.

They made one sound. It's the same Hebrew word, a hod

1 sound in Second Chronicles that is found in Deuteronomy.

When we talk about the oneness of God, that is one of the core

foundations of our belief. It's the same word.

This lets us know that if we desire to see God lifted up, we

will stand together, we will sing together, we will declare

His name together because He is good and His mercy endureth

forever. If you read Second Chronicles

2 Chronicles 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20, you will find enemy territories that were coming

against Jehoshaphat to do battle against Judah.

In verse #3 we find that Jehoshaphat prayed and he

proclaimed a fast throughout All Judah and Judah gather

themselves together to ask help of the Lord as musicians and

singers as well as the congregation in unity.

We know that Judah is symbolic of praise.

We find in the Word of God that praise prayed and praise fasted,

and praise asked God for help. The Word of God is full of

examples today of how praise won the battle.

If you're going through circumstances today, if you're

going through life difficulties today, I I'm going to tell you

again, I'm repeating myself. I do apologize for the

redundancy, but I believe it's important.

The recipe for your victory is not to stay home because you're

going through something. The recipe for your victory is

not to isolate yourself away from everybody because you're

going through something. And I don't know what people are

going through here this morning. And by no means am I trying to

be disrespectful, but to some extent we're all going through

something. Life happens to every single one

of us today and it's important for us to know that if we're

going to see victory and if we expect God to deliver for us,

it's important for us to show up to God's house and to lift him

up in praise. Because can't nobody do me like

Jesus can. We still need to fast.

We still need to pray, we still need to ask God for help.

But sometimes my offering to God, sometimes my request to God

is not in bended knee form. Sometimes it's lifted hand for

him. Sometimes it's oh God, I need

you. Sometimes it's oh, thank you for

your mercy. Thank you for loving me because

I'm unlovable. We are living in what is perhaps

the most talented generation of musicians and singers that has

ever existed in the Apostolic movement and by extension to

that I feel confident in saying that has extended has existed in

any movement because I can give you lists of examples of worldly

musicians that came out of Pentecost.

So I I will tell you today with confidence based on the word of

God. We had music and singing first,

but regardless for the talent, we have to be careful to

remember we Can't Sing without him.

We can't play without his help. That doesn't mean we don't try

to learn. I'm constantly, constantly

looking at material, trying to sharpen my skill set.

I've been playing piano now for had to do the math.

The number keeps getting higher. 38 years.

I sat down at the piano for the first time and started playing.

Longer than what? Some of you've been bored.

Lord have mercy, but I don't have it figured out yet.

I'm constantly you tubing and looking at stuff and material of

people that I say, man, they're good.

They're better than me. I need to sharpen something.

I need to learn that. I need to figure that out.

I want to educate myself as much as I can so that when I come

before God and worship, I can give Him my best because I

believe anointing flows from us giving Him our best.

But it's not about the talent, it's not about the ability, it's

about the presence of God. And we cannot have his presence

here without unity. I have been in church services

before, in this building at times in the past and in other

buildings. I have been in church services

where that it seemed like everything up here was was just

boom, shaken, and it did not resonate past the first few.

Doesn't mean that whoever was up here was right, but what it does

mean is that the building was not in unity.

We find later in Second Chronicles 20 and verse #22 And

when they began to sing and to praise the Lord, set ambushments

against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Sayre, which

will come against Judah. And they were smitten.

When they began to sing and to praise the Lord, set

ambushments. Word ambush means a surprise

attack to lie in wait, to take by surprise, to trap or to

ensnare. Now I want you to recognize here

that this verse, this verse is incredibly powerful if we will

allow it to minister to us because it represents single

handedly the spiritual nature of what singing and praising God

is. I have been in I I, I attended a

funeral service several several months ago.

It was last year sometime in a a establishment of a different

persuasion and they sang songs. They sang songs out of a hymnal

book. And it must have been the pages

that Apostolic don't select I I don't know, but I did not know

the songs. They they was not page two.

It wasn't 311 or 312. It was something else.

Many of the people that were there knew the song, so the

congregation was singing with them.

And I felt so out of place. And I almost felt bad for the

Reese because here I am. I've spent a life devoted to

singing and music and worship and I'm I'm standing there as

the odd man out because the congregation singing and that's

one of the things I specialize in.

And I Can't Sing because I didn't know the words.

But what I noticed by observation was they were in

unity of singing but there was no worship.

It's not enough to just sing because it's possible.

It's possible to come to this church when we sing and when we

play music. It is possible for you to stand,

and it is possible for you to move your lips and allow air to

pass over them and for you to sing words.

It is possible for you to sing with us and not be singing to

Him. It's possible.

It's all about where your heart's directed.

It's all about a mindset of why am I singing?

We need a unity of worship so that when the congregation joins

in with the praise team and those that are singing, that we

are singing collectively as the body of Christ, the family of

God, not just for the sake of social singing.

That's right now, That's important, It really is.

It's important scientifically. They've proven it, and I'll try

to get to some of that later. That's important, but that's not

the main objective. The main objective is not a

social singing of congregation. The main objective is a unity of

congregation in worship to Him. And when we sing and we add in

praise when we have the combination, it's almost like a

mathematical formula. When you've got singing plus

praise, it equals ambushments against your enemy.

What's that mean? That means if we truly believe

God's word and we look at Second Chronicles 20 and 22 for what it

is and for what is explaining to us that when we sing and we add

in praise, God shows up. Oh, Hallelujah.

So powerful to think, Brother Fred.

I can remember, I remember years ago, it was just back in the 90s

when we went to Covenant Church in Cincinnati for men's

conference, I think my first men's conference at Covenant.

I remember there was, I don't know, maybe 900 thousand 1100

men in that sanctuary all singing Amazing Grace.

Now, I appreciate the song Amazing Grace for its intent and

for what it is not necessarily my favorite song, all right?

It's the message of it is one of our favorites.

But the song itself, it has its place, all right.

So please, please don't think bad of me for saying that.

I'm just being honest with you. But in that moment there was

such a unity of voice and praise combined together with the voice

of those men singing that song. It was overwhelming because God

showed up. The battles we come into this

holy house fighting are not ours.

They are the Lords. The battles are His.

Psalms 40 in verse #1 reads. I waited patiently for the Lord,

and he inclined it to me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up also out of in horrible pit, out of the miry

clay, and set my feet up on a rock, and established my goings.

And He has put a new song in my mouth.

Even praise unto our God. Many shall see it in fear, and

shall trust the Lord. Waiting in this particular

context does not mean doing nothing.

So I want I want to remind someone this morning that when

you don't know what to do next, keep doing what you're doing.

You don't change anything until you know what to change.

One of the biggest fundamental mistakes people make in their

walk with God is they just don't feel like doing what they're

doing anymore, and they're frustrated for whatever reason.

It really doesn't matter the why, but they think that they

need to make a change. They think they need to do

something different. They don't know what it is yet,

so they go ahead and quit doing what they're doing right now.

And I'm telling you today that that is a trick of our enemy

today. Because if He can get you to

quit doing what you're doing right now before you make a

change, yes, God may be wanting to change your ministry.

But before He reveals that to you, you need to stay faithful

where you're at. Because if you take a step

backwards, you will be more inclined to continue walking

backwards rather than forwards. We need to understand where to

go, how to go, when to go, who to go with and why.

And to do that properly, we have to stay in the presence of God.

And that means I need to stay in my present capacity.

I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to quit playing

piano. I can't tell you how many times

I've wanted to quit singing. Having nothing to do with you,

just having to do with my own walk in life and my own

difficulties and my own struggles.

But but, but I would just keep, keep going.

Sometimes obligation is a good thing.

So he continues in verse one by saying that the Lord heard his

cry. It was through this measure of

perseverance that was brought out.

He was brought out of the situation he was in.

Verse 2 tells us he was brought up out of a horrible pit.

This verse is very often related to the subject and meaning of

sin, with the horrible pit being the sin, and there is a

salvation message related to this passage of scripture, but

there's a bit more of a depth here than just a single topic of

salvation. The horrible pit is referred to

as the pit of noise, meaning that it is referred to as being

your place of trouble or calamity.

The word horrible is also translated as being noise or

uproar, as the loud raging noise of waters or if people in a

crowd, if you've ever been in a really large crowd, and if

they're all chanting the same thing or clapping, the unity in,

in, in the residence in the, it, it, it makes a sound of its own.

That's actually what heaven's going to be like.

It's a different topic for another time.

It's a horrible place to be when all the voices of your life and

in your family are speaking against you in your walk with

God. It happens.

Giving in and being less than what God wants for you, It's not

going to help you and it's not going to help them.

There are too many voices speaking in our life sometimes

when we only need to be listening to one.

That miry clay is the symbol of the bottom of the pit.

It's the place where there's no solid ground, no rock to walk

on. And it's as if the beginning

verses of Psalm chapter 40 are written simply as an

Psalms 40 · chapter mention

introduction for the remainder of the chapter, because in verse

12, we find that David's writings change from what God

has done to the things that have happened to him.

I want to read them to you this morning.

Psalm 40 and verse #12 starts and says, For innumerable evils

have compassed me about mine. Iniquities have taken hold upon

me, so that I am not able to look upon, look up.

They are more than the hairs of my head.

Therefore my heart faileth me be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me.

O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and

confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it.

Let them be driven backward and put the shame that wish me evil.

Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame.

That saying to me, Aha, aha, let all those that seek to rejoice

and be glad in thee, let such as love thy salvation.

Say continually the Lord be magnified.

This is what David closes with. But I am poor and needy, yet the

Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my

deliverer. Make no terroring my God.

Innumerable evils, not even able to look up the problems in the

calamities are more than the hairs of his head, his heart

faileth, and he's poor and needy.

But in verse 17 he concludes with saying, Yet the Lord

thinketh upon me, what is going to make God to think about us?

Our relationship. And nothing deepens our

relationship than fellowship. And our fellowship with God

starts in our worship and in our praise.

What we do here is more than music.

If all a person is looking for is instrumental music and good

singing, well, I hope they can find that here.

I don't know if they can or not, but I hope they can.

But my heart's desire and I know the heart of those that sing

with us and other musicians and singers on this platform is not

that people will come with the intent of listening to us, but

it's that through the song they have an opportunity to join and

deepen their fellowship with God.

We must be moved by Him through all of this.

David waited patiently on the Lord and the Bible says the Lord

heard back to Psalm 40 and verse #3 says, and he hath put a new

song in my mouth, even praise to our God.

We often talk about this being an actual song, but the

translation has more depth where the literal meaning is a new or

fresh occasion for praise. There are times that we need to

praise God maybe a little differently.

I'm a, I'm a rut guy. I like routines.

I know there are some of you that don't, and that's fine, but

there are, there are routines that that I, I like.

I I appreciate the routine things.

There's an occasion where our praise and our singing can

become so routine that it loses the depth of meaning.

If you if you do nothing but clap your hands, maybe

occasionally you need to lift your hands.

If you do nothing but lift your hands, maybe you need to clap

your hand. Maybe there's something you need

to do differently. If you do everything that you

know to do, but there's still some things you don't do, maybe

you need to consider those. There are occasions where we

need a new or fresh occasion for praise to express to God just

how great His deliverance for us is.

You say, some people say, well I don't need music to praise God

praising without it. You are technically correct.

That is right. You don't need music to praise

God and you don't need singing to praise God necessarily.

You could you could praise God without it.

However, I believe now this is this is me.

So you, you can take this or leave it.

But I believe if blending in with others and with the noise

of music and singing, if within that where your voice is mostly

kind of hidden or blended and you're not standing out to

anyone particular person. If within that environment you

don't praise God, then I believe it's going to be very difficult

for you to praise God when it's quiet, when there is nothing

going on that prompts more noise and more blending.

Very difficult because then all eyes are on you.

It's almost like the first time growing up, the first time I

still, I still remember it. I, I vaguely remember exactly

where I was sitting and I don't remember what was being said,

but I know my father was preaching.

I remember the first time as a, as a growing, I wasn't an adult

yet, but as a growing young person, I remember the first

time I said Amen out loud. I remember it kind of stewing

inside and I knew I wanted to, I just had this desire.

I just, I just, I wanted to, I wanted to get it out, say hey

man, I remember it first time dad was preaching.

Don't remember what it was, but whatever it was, I thought it

was good. And I said hey man.

Pretty sure I was. I was either the only one that

said hey man, or I was the loudest.

I don't remember which, but there was Lord help me today.

There was a a, a, an elder sister in the church sitting in

front of me some I was sitting just about where destiny is this

morning. And this sister was probably

sitting where out where Trevor is.

And I got that Amen out. I was probably around 11 or 12

and she, she. She didn't say Amen.

I don't. I don't know why that was my

problem. She wasn't expecting to hear it

from me. That made the experience feel a

little awkward because it was suitably quiet and I brought

noise. So I'm just trying to prove my

point to you that if, if you if you're finding it difficult to

worship with music and singing, it's going to be more difficult

for you to worship without it. So I extend to you an invitation

this morning that when you are in an environment of music and

worship and singing, that's your moment.

That's your moment. Because if we're all doing our

jobs correctly, no one should notice.

Because if your eyes is focused on him and your eyes is focused

on him, and your eyes is focused on him, and you decide to focus

on him, we're all focusing together.

That's unity. Music is the vehicle by which

people are moved from one emotion to another, which is why

I'm suggesting this morning it's very powerful.

But that's also why I'm suggesting that we have to

couple it with praise, because you can have music without

praise and it still be very emotional.

If you don't believe me, try watching a movie or a television

show without music. Without their music, try

watching Star Wars without the March.

Try watching Jaws without. Try watching a sports game

without the aid of music. Why do they have bands at sports

sports games? Why do you go to a Major League

Baseball game and they've got a Hammond B3 organ up in a room

somewhere where they're done charge?

Because they're trying to stir up your emotion.

It's very powerful. It sets the tone for whatever

activity you're participating in.

It's no different in church. The only difference is we couple

it with praise. There are educational benefits

of singing, according to the Rice University Shepherd School

of Music it is through singing that children learn that music

through music, how to express their feelings and ideas.

How many of the children's shows do you see that don't have any

type of singing or music? Very few, if any.

Singing cheers the spirit lightens the heart.

Singing causes the mind to focus and the body to relax.

Singing among children fosters growth of the imagination.

Children learn more easily through singing.

My wife used to teach Alex his memory verses by making the

memory verse a song, and that's how he started learning his

memory verses with singing. Songs carry history and

traditions and families and nations.

Nations. Singing helps children and

adults feel as though they're a part of something bigger than

themselves, something they can join in and contribute to by

singing. On August 16th, 2013, an article

was published in Time magazine called Singing Changes Your

Brain. The writer of the article, Stacy

Horne, declares that group singing has been scientifically

proven to lower stress, relieve anxiety, and elevate endorphins,

which is a chemical that makes you happy.

Now you could come to church and you could sing together as a

congregation without worship and lower your stress, relieve

anxiety, and elevate your mood. That's the science behind it.

Imagine how good it is when we add worship to it.

It's life changing. It's why people are stirred to

an altar, it's why people weep in the presence of God.

It's not the song by itself, It's the song plus God.

It's the song plus praise. It's the God factor of the song.

It's the God factor of the music that makes the difference.

She continues to say that when you sing, musical vibrations

move through you, altering your physical and emotional

landscape. That's pretty powerful.

Science is just now figuring out what God and His Word have

known. All of all.

There's a reason why we sing. There's a reason why we have

musicians to play instruments in church.

I'm hastening to a close this morning and I want to focus.

I want to focus in closing on what she said a bit deeper.

I want to share something with you this morning, she said.

And I, I quote again, when you sing, musical vibrations move

through you, altering your physical and emotional

landscape. So I want to talk for just a

moment about the importance of the physical and emotional

alterations caused by musical vibrations moving through you as

a person. There's a couple of things I

want to focus on. The first one is something

called gematria, and this is something Bishop has referred to

over the years. Dimitri is an ancient system of

assigning numerical values to letters and words or phrases

primarily used in Hebrew and Greek text.

The method is often used to employ to find deeper meanings

and translations or interpretations by analyzing the

numerical equivalent of words and comparing them to other

words with the same numerical equivalent.

So if you'll bring up picture #1 I hope.

All right, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on these.

I've got a few photos with some some things to illustrate.

So this is, and I apologize to our viewing audience that you

can't see this, but this is the Hebrew alphabet, just for

example. So Hebrew goes from right to

left. So starting from the right side

top #1 down. Well, that's not actually a

number 10. Lord help our projector.

So this is the alphabet and beside it is the numerical

assignment in gematria of the the number value of that

alphabet letter. Now if you could go to #2 This

is a list of musical notes found on a guitar or on a piano.

AB flat, BCD flat, DE flat, EF G flat, GA flat.

Really tested my memory this morning.

All right, so just giving you this snapshot for an example.

There will not be a pop quiz, I promise you #3 so this is the

letters or the, the, the letter of the note, CD flat D,

etcetera. And beside it is a number.

God help the projector. I need 5 more minutes.

Beside it is a number that is assigned.

That number represents the measurement of frequency of

Hertz of the musical sound. Something I stumbled across a

few days ago and study was that there is a direct correlation

between the gematria, the number of sign that coming from the

Hebrew alphabet. There is a direct correlation

between that number and the musical frequency in Hertz to

the letters on a musical instrument.

So an olive in Hebrew has a number assignment of one.

That one also has an assignment in musical Hertz measurement.

Next slide #4 So these are chords, not just notes, but C

chord, C minor chord, D flat chord, etcetera.

In Hertz measurement. That is also that also

correlates to the number assignment of the words in

Hebrew. And I'm stressing Hebrew because

our Bible is translated Old Testament specifically is

translated from the Hebrew language.

Here we have each chord represents 3 notes.

So this is the sum total of Hertz of those notes.

Let's go to #5 for the Malone. So the ones in yellow, I'm going

to give you an example of the correlation between those Hertz

and its corresponding Demetria allocation.

Let's go to #6. All right, C chord hit me.

C chord louder. C chord has a Hertz measurement

of 983. A 983 measurement in gematria

translated into the Hebrew is daat which means knowledge 3

minutes D minor 10183. Hertz 10183 as a number in

gematria is Rafu Ashlema, which means healing.

Now coincidentally, buy this, don't buy it, that's fine.

But I have played keyboard for a lot of people in church services

and there are two very particular people that I could

give you their names today that whenever they got to the pulpit,

they looked at me and said give me a minor chord.

I didn't have a clue what was going on and I really didn't

know what I thought about it at the time till I came across this

this week. But they I gave them, I went

into a minor chord and as soon as I switched into a minor

chord, the spirit of the prophetic fell on those men and

they began to prophecy to people and lay hands on people for

their healing. E chord 12139 or hyen which

means the light of life. F court 13112 I believe it was.

And the word in gematria with the same corresponding number

was Elohim. Elohim means God.

My point this morning, I don't want to be distracted by the

projector not working. But my point this morning and,

and you can subscribe to this, you can, you can say, well,

that's all kooky and I don't know how I feel about that.

That's fine. But my point today is just

simply this. What if when we are in the

presence of the Almighty and the the the musician strikes the

chord? What if the correlation between

the the hurts, that frequency that we hear in that chord is so

deeply correlated to the Word of God that hearing music in church

is the same as hearing the word of God?

What if music in an Apostolic Church is so powerful because

God designed it to be exactly in tune, literally with His word G

minor, the Hebrew word or which means light A minor 16123 Hertz

16123 grimetria. The the, the word is malach.

I don't know, Angel of the Lord. Now these are just a few

examples. It's a good thing I didn't have

a longer list, but these are just a few examples this

morning. Instrumental music, generally

speaking, is neither good nor evil.

We assign it that way based on our preferences.

Let me tell you, music, instrumental music is neutral in

nature. Let me be a bit more clear.

It's the lyrics that give the meaning.

Let me be a bit more clear. Having been a musician for a few

decades now, I can tell you from personal knowledge.

Chord patterns, notes, chord structures because there are

many playing them for a church song.

Musically, just the instrument, the chord patterns are the same

as if it was a rock'n'roll song. Chord pattern is the same if

it's Jerry Mason or if it's Axl Rose.

So the music pattern, the instrument is neutral in

spiritual nature. But what if when we add the

words that give praise to Almighty God, something shifts

in the spirit and God recognizes the frequency.

God recognizes the frequency of what he hears, and he says, oh,

I hear my word. What if music that is anointed

by God is so anointed that it actually speaks?

There is something innately powerful that happens when we

get into an environment that we are free to worship God, would

you stand with me this morning? Our first order of business

right now is to lift our hands and magnify Him because there's

no one worthy like Him. When we strike the tone of a

guitar or an organ or a keyboard in church, there is something

spiritual that happens. It's not the talent, it's not

the chord pattern, it's not the frequency in and of itself, but

it is the word of Almighty God that is being elevated in our

presence and God begins to speak to us before a word is ever

spoken. Regardless of where you stand on

my theory that I presented you this morning, there's one thing

we know for sure today. There is nothing like being in

His presence. And in the majority of cases, we

are introduced to His presence through the vehicle of music and

singing. But I've come to tell you today

that it's more than just music. It's more than just songs.

It's an atmosphere and an occasion to praise the name of

the Lord. Well, could you come this

morning and just stand around this altar and give him praise.

If you want to pray, you can pray, pray through praise this

morning. Pray through worship this

morning. If you if you're not comfortable

coming forward just where you're standing today.

Let's just take some time this morning.

Let's take some time this morning.

We're we're hearing music right now in the presence of God is

for the Alex plays right now. It doesn't matter what he's

playing because the frequency of it is speaking the word of God.

It's resonating the word of God into my life.

It's lifting me up by the word of God in my life.

It's helping me by the word of God.

It's strengthening me by the Word of God, His healing, His

light, His miraculous power. There is nothing like being in

His presence, and to get in His presence today requires more

than music. If you need healing for your

body this morning, praise Him. If you need healing for your

mind this morning, praise Him. If you need strength and

encouragement this morning, praise Him.

The combination of music, singing and praise today puts us

into the atmosphere of the Almighty, and when we're in the

presence of God, anything can happen.

Worship you Jesus. I worship you, Jesus.

If you're going through trials and tribulations this morning

and you need victory in your life, I just want to ask you to

lift your hands and continue to give Him praise today.

Allow Him to minister to you through music.

Allow Him to minister to you through the the the vibration

and the frequency of His word into your heart, into your mind,

into your life today so that you can leave in courage.

You can leave stronger. You can leave different than you

were when you came. Our objective is never to come

into this church and leave the same way we were when we got

here. I must be different.

I can't achieve that difference on my own.

That difference comes through an intimate relationship with Jesus

Christ, and that happens through fellowship that is often

prompted through our worship and our occasions to give Him

praise. Today, could you lift your hands

one more time? Somebody just whisper it to him,

I love you Jesus, I need you Jesus.

Before you'll ever shout to the mountains, you've got to 1st

whisper it. I need you Jesus.

I need you Jesus. I worship you Jesus.

There's none like you, Jesus. I need you, Jesus.

When we get in His presence like we are right now, folks, life

changes. All of our fears can subside.

Discouragement can subside. I may not walk out of here this

morning with every need met and every problem solved, but I can

walk out with a greater resolve. I can walk out with more

strength. I can walk out with more

firmness in my step. I feel the Holy Ghost right now.

I can walk out of here with a desire to make it one more day.

I could come into this house on any given service and I could

feel like I'm on the edge of quitting.

I can feel like I'm not going to do it anymore because I just

can't make it. I mess up too many times.

But I'm telling somebody under the ocean of God's Spirit this

morning, Yes, you can make it. Get into fellowship with His

worship so that when you leave here one more day, one more

hour, one more step, step at a time, I can make it.

I feel an echo this morning of the words of the Apostle Paul.

I can do all things through Christ, who's strength, not

because I'm good, not because I've got it all figured out, but

because he's worthy. And when I can get in his

presence, Brother Mike, I know anything can happen.

When I can get in His presence, I get forgiveness for my

failures. When I get in His presence, I

have somebody willing to help pick me up because I may have

tripped yesterday, but I refuse to quit.

I may trip again tomorrow, but I refuse to quit.

We need to resolve in our spirit today that I'm not going to

quit. Enemy, you could say what you

want to, but I refuse to quit. Could you lift your hands one

more time? Oh, I feel a sweet presence of

the Lord in this house this morning.

God is here. I'll leave you with this final

thought. I want to leave you with this

final thought when you come into a worship service as the people

of God, we need to wait. We need to stop waiting on other

people's shout to validate the song.

I I am concerned today that sometimes we don't get involved

in a song because we're waiting on seeing if somebody else is

going to respond to it or not. But that's not the reason why we

sing. That is not the reason why we

worship. My worship should not be waiting

on somebody else's response. God's just simply waiting on my

response. He wants your response for you.

When you will do that, things in your life will change.

God bless you, this boy. Thank you.

Oh, what a sweet presence of the Holy Ghost is in this house

today. Thank you for being in the House

of the Lord, for responding, for leaning in.

Thank you for joining us online today.

We appreciate you and we ask God's blessings on you wherever

you are. We walk by faith, not by sight.

Let the church say Amen. Don't forget our announcements

and our prayer request today. We will be having church this

evening at 6:00. Prayer room open at 5:30.

God bless you today. You're dismissed in Jesus name.