"Tune Out ThE Sounds: Choose maker over music"

Tune Out The Sounds: Choose Maker Over Music

Do you ever just stop and listen to the voices that are speaking around you? Are they voices that echo the word of God? Or are they voices that stand to contradict and question the word of God? We hear so many things as we go about our business on a day to day basis. Have you ever considered whether what you hear repeatedly is affecting you? What are the voices around you saying? What is it that your ears are hearing? I ask these questions because the bible talks a lot about hearing. One of my favorite scriptures comes out of Romans.

Read Roman 10:17 (NKJV): So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Let me tell you, it is no coincidence that the loudest voices in this world are the voices that stand to discourage you from living a righteous life and to encourage you to indulge in sin. Yes, we live in a world where many different voices are deliberately trying to influence us to pick the world over the Word. These voices are in the media, they are in institutions, and they are sold to us as entertainment.

The voices of this world will tell you to look after this flesh, but they will mention nothing about your soul. They will tell you things like enjoy the moment, but those voices will never utter a word about where you will spend eternity. The voices that come from this world are controlled by the god of this world. And so I’d simply like to encourage you today to take note of what you are hearing. Take note of the content, the conversations, and the music that you are hearing.

Whether you want to admit it or not, all of us have been influenced by some type of music. Whether it be Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Country and Western, Hip Hop, Classical, or Gospel; all of us have been influenced by some type of musical style. Now, it has been said that God gave the gift of music so we can hear the melodies of the heart. Music in itself can be used to uplift the soul, elevate the mind, calm our fears, relax the mind, promote peace, and love. But music, when used the wrong way, can corrupt minds, entice you to sin, entice you to be violent, to dress inappropriately, to disrespect one another, and influence you to do something foolish that can cause you to end up in jail or end up dead.

And that is the basis for this message. In these passages of scriptures, we are going to see three young Hebrew men; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to bow down to a golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had built up for himself when they heard a certain sound of music being played.

Now, King Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. According to biblical history, King Nebuchadnezzar was known to be a powerful king, who had led Babylon to defeat many nations and bring many nations to be subjected to his rule. King Nebuchadnezzar was known to be a cruel and ruthless king who would kill anyone who had crossed him or slighted him in any form or fashion.

Also, King Nebuchadnezzar was an idol god worshiper in that He had a large and tall golden image to be built, in that whenever the people would hear some musical instruments playing in the air, he wanted everyone to bow down at that moment to worship this 9-foot golden image. Now according to biblical history, it has been said that this golden image was a statue of King Nebuchadnezzar himself, or a statue of Bel, which was an idol god that the Babylonians worshiped.

Read Daniel 3:4-7 (NKJV): Now in Daniel 3:4-7, we see that as the music was being played, everyone who heard the music being played started to bow down and worship this golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had built. Yes, everyone bowed down to worship this golden image, except for these three particular Jews; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

But notice something here in this text. Now notice in Daniel 3:8 it says, “after the music had been played that certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews for not bowing down to worship the image.” But in Daniel 3:12, the accusing Chaldean only mentions Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not bowing down. Now the question is, why were they singled out? Well, if you look at Daniel 3:12 it says…

Read Daniel 3:12 (NKJV): “There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Now notice there were other Jews that did not bow down and worship the golden image, but these accusing Chaldean only pointed out Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for not worshiping the golden image. Why? I believe it was because these three Hebrew men had been appointed to be over the affairs of the province of Babylon. In other words, it was because they had been promoted to positions of leadership in the Babylonian government. Because they had been promoted to positions of leadership in the Babylonian government, that could have made some of the Chaldeans who felt that they should be in charge and be in positions of leadership “feel some type of way.” No doubt some of the Chaldeans were jealous of their promotions. And because they were promoted to be on top, these Chaldeans were trying to find something to bring them down.

That is a lesson for us to learn today. The lesson is when you are being blessed by the Lord, when you are anointed to do a great work for the Lord, when the Lord is promoting you to higher heights in your life, there will be some people who are going to be jealous of you, and they are going to do anything possible to try to pull you down.

Not only that, whenever you take a stand against something that is wrong, you will have people who are going to lie on you, talk bad about you, persecute you, and try to tear down your reputations. And that is what was happening with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; they were being persecuted for taking a stand, for not bowing down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image.

Also Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were being persecuted because they did not follow the crowd. You see the crowd was bowing down to the golden image when they heard the music being played, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not. You see, just because the majority is doing it, that does not mean it is right. Just because the majority is saying something, that does not mean it is right. Just because you hear people calling women the B-word, that does not mean that it is right. Just because weed is legal, that does not mean that it is right. Just because society is accepting same-sex marriage, that does not mean that it is right. Just because our culture finds it necessary to promote immorality to our children in school, that doesn’t mean that it is right. You see, there are some things that you just don’t do simply because it is not right, and it does not please God.

Now another question that is being asked, how come Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down to the golden image when they heard the music being played? Now it must be understood that it was not because they did not like the type of music being played. It was not because the music did not have a nice tune or a nice beat to it. It was not because they weren’t musically inclined or musically talented like some other people. It wasn’t because they did not know how or did not like to dance. Nor was it because they did not like the band that was playing the music.

It was because the music itself that was being played in these passages of scriptures had some bad intentions to it. You see there was nothing wrong with the music in itself that was being played in these passages of scriptures, but it was how the music was being used, that is, the music was being used to signal to the people when to bow down to the golden image. It was because of this principal, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image when they heard the music being played. And even in today’s times, there is a lot of music that is being played over the radio that has some bad intentions.

Whenever you hear music and songs that entice you to have sex before marriage, be involved in immorality, calling women out of their name, killing someone because they are not wearing the right color, being disrespectful to authority figures like your parents, teachers, getting high on drugs, selling drugs, dropping out of school, etc., anytime you hear music or songs that entice you to sin, that is a piece of music or song that has some bad intentions.

Now notice that in Babylon, there were no Jewish Temples for the Jews to go worship the true and living God. There were no Jewish priests in Babylon teaching the law of God, but yet we see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego keeping the commandments of the Lord in a land that does not even honor God, or His word. Now the question is, how were they able to do that?

Read Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV): Train up a child in the way they should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Read Psalm 119:9 (NKJV): “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”

No doubt when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were young, they were taught who God is. No doubt they were taught to trust in the Lord with all their heart. They were taught to worship God with all their heart. They were taught to obey God with all their heart. They were taught all these things and a whole lot more. Yet they found themselves living in a strange land that did not honor God. And the question is how do you honor God in a strange land? How do you honor God on a job that doesn’t want you to talk about the Lord? How do you honor God when you go to a school that has teachers and administrators that don’t honor God and don’t want you to honor God?

Read Psalm 119:11 (NKJV): “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

Yes, you may not be allowed to talk about the Lord on your job, at school, in the classroom, but you can still honor God wherever you may be by keeping God’s word in your heart.

But you have a choice – Maker or Music

When it comes to our Maker himself, you can’t compare anybody with our Maker because He is the only one who created this universe. You see, in the sport of basketball, you can compare LeBron James with Michael Jordan. In the sport of baseball, you can compare Babe Ruth with Willie Mays. In the sport of football, you can compare Tom Brady with Joe Montana. In the world of Rap music, you can compare Eric B and Rakim with Tupac. In the world of R&B music, you can compare Janet Jackson with Beyoncé. In show business, you can compare Denzel Washington with George Clooney. In Comedy, you can compare Jerry Seinfeld with Kevin Hart. In politics, you can compare one president with another.

But God is the only one who can make a donkey talk, walk in fire and not get burned, make a sea dry land to walk on, make water come out of a rock, walk on water like it is a sidewalk and not drown, heal the sick, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, make a cripple man walk straight, cast out demons, feed 5,000 with just two fishes and five loaves of bread, and the list goes on and on because the God I am talking about is totally AWESOME!!!!!!! And because God is AWESOME, He is worthy to be bowed down to and worshipped.

The reason why we should bow down and worship the one and only true God, because it is God who woke you up this morning. It is God who blessed you to have food to eat. It is God who gave you clothes to wear. It is God who gave you shelter over your head. Yes, we ought to bow down and worship God because it is God who healed you when you were sick. It was God who delivered you when you were in trouble. It is God who blesses you to work on a job to earn money to pay your bills and provide for your family. It is God who blesses you to do well in school. It is God who answers your prayers. It is God who makes a way out of no-way. And if God is to be bowed down to and worshipped, then we ought not to bow down to Allah, Mohammad, Confucius, Joseph Smith, or Rev. Sun Moon because none of these people can save you.

But yet, one must understand that you cannot bow down and worship God without worshipping Jesus Christ because when you worship Jesus Christ, you are worshipping God; for Jesus Christ is God. He is God in human flesh. He is one with the Father, and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity.

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God.”

And in John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

You see, Jesus was the Word that was with God in the beginning and is God because Jesus is one with the Father. Jesus says in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one.” And in 1 John 5:7 says, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.”

Today somebody is watching you to see what decisions you are going to make in your life. They are trying to find out if this Christianity thing you have been talking about is really real, or will you go along with the rest of the crowd when the music starts to sound. They are going to make a decision about Jesus, on whether or not you choose to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. King Nebuchadnezzar became a believer.

Read Daniel 3:28 (NLT): Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

Then verse 30 says they were promoted (rewarded) to a higher position for their righteousness and their faithfulness to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, today is your day… I ask you to tune out the sounds. Choose our Maker over their music. There is promotion waiting just for you and that is life spent in eternity!!