People hearing Heaven's angels singing and making music, here in this world.

Are there accounts ?

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Edward F Sutton

MR No. 397 - Sing with the Spirit and Understanding

These are the fruits that Christ would have from His vineyards, and from His saints who assemble to worship Him from year to year. Obedience to God's commandments makes our souls precious in His sight. The church is very dear to the heart of God. He would have His people sing with the heart and with the understanding also: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it." "Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein." The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. {6MR 318.1}

Let songs pour forth from lips that the live coal from off the altar has touched. Lift up your voices in the words of the one-hundred and twenty-first, one-hundred and twenty-fifth and one-hundred and twenty-sixth psalms. The angelic host will join with those who sing with the spirit and with the understanding also.--Ms 123, 1899, p. 4. ("The Vineyard," August 25, 1899.)

Released December 2, 1974. {6MR 318.2}

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Edward F Sutton

An inspiring quote.
Yes, it is true.
There are times when God's presence seems very near; either as a result of earnest, heartfelt prayer, or contemplating a passage from scripture. Then as songs are lifted in Praise there have been times when it seems something outside of oneself is swelling the music into beautiful fullness and meaning.

"All the inhabitants of heaven unite in praising God. Let us learn the song of the angels now, that we may sing it when we join their shining ranks. {CC 93.5}

"My brother, when you see these things in a right light, you will have in your meetings only sweet, simple singing, and you will ask the whole congregation to join in the song. What if among those present there are some whose voices are not so musical as the voices of others. When the singing is such that angels can unite with the singers, an impression is made on minds that singing from unsanctified lips cannot make.--Letter 190, 1902. {Ev 509.1}

I'm sure we do want the angel's to join in our worship and singing.
Yet, I was reading an article called "Why don't People Sing in Church any more?", and if they do it's usually just an almost silent lip moving exercise?
What happened to the congregation's heartfelt singing?

Some answers listed were:

Everyone expects the people on stage to perform
The musicians’ volume is cranked up so high that congregants can’t hear their own voices, or the voices of those around them, even if they would sing. So they don’t sing. What would it add? The overwhelming, amplified sound blares from big speakers, obliterating any chance for the sound of robust congregational singing.

It makes sense!
I know I don't feel like singing when the speakers are blaring loudly and drowning out our small voices.
Would angels feel that way too?

Their have been times when by singing hymns the Holy Spirit through angels has moved so strongly that people are converted by the Spirit that attends the music.

But now the majority of our churches have taken away the hymnals and don't even bother projecting the lyrics on the huge screen they project images on any longer, instead they play popular christian radio music expecting those who know the words to join in if the feel "moved" to do so. With hands raised like modern Pentecostal churches these people are no closer to God than pagans.

This is one of the things God has moved on my heart to protest.

The "praise groups" of most SDA churches want to be more and more like mega churches and instead of directing the hearts of people to God they stand as an entertainer and covet the worship themselves.

I saw a baby dedicated the other Sabbath and the praise leader of the church sang three solos like it was a concert. The only thing to praise God about is that his talents weren't good enough to actually gain the adulation he desired.

When I was first convicted of this issue was when Rock and Roll was first being brought into the sanctuary arround 15 years ago. Having spent most of my life coveting the praise of men in searching for fame and fortune in rock bands I know perfectly well where that spirit comes from.

What made the situation even more pronounced was that immediately upon receiving the conviction from God, I give an oath that an hour later my local pastors showed up at my door asking for my support in building the first rock band in Minneapolis SDA history. I kid you not.

That church has spawned so many others to follow and the destructive influence has been felt so strongly that I can stand completely justified in the knowledge that this movement is from Satan.

I find it so vexing that it has almost driven me from those churches all together. The animosity from those who are pursuing the change is overwhelming. They have literally attacked me for my stand against Rock music in the sanctuary, writing scathing attacks against me and circulating emails among pastors and in circles that I am not privy to, which I find out by those who still call me brother who received them.

There is a spirit of war in the camp.

God is calling us to a closer connection to him through corporate silence and prayer, but it is as if they cannot stand to be in the Spirit of true worship and must silence it by making noise.

So yes angels do unify their voices with ours in church, but the main issue is whether they are good angels or fallen ones.

"Notwithstanding the widespread declension of faith and piety, there are true followers of Christ in these churches. Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world."{GC 464.1}

If drums are in your church and you are not protesting, then you have become part of the problem. This is a faithful witness.

Thankfully the churches I attend do not have rock bands.
I don't think I would attend if they did. Nor do we have any swaying rememorized people during services.

Yet have you not experienced the positive?
Members get together and sit in a circle and sing songs and hymns with meaningful Christ centered words with only an acoustic guitar (no amplification or strong beat or wild strumming, or show, just sweet, simple singing), and in between songs sharing testimonies of faith, often triggered by the words of a song just sung. It can be a time when the holy Spirit is very near, and yes, sometimes it is as if the angels join in singing.
This is followed by a season of prayer, and then the speaker/preacher shares a message.

It's usually in small, less formal churches where this closeness, simplicity and sharing is experienced.

I would love to be a part of such a congregation! (there are church plants which I helped start but the conference refuses to acknowledge them so no money for a pastor)

We had a couple wonderful congregations here in this region but they fell to the world, and it all started around the time that women were ordained as elders. Once there were women elders EVERYTHING changed. The churches were sold and they tried to build a mega church.

God warned me for them but they would not listen.

I plead with God to show them their errors. But the more the Holy Spirit tries to convict them, the more they dig in their heals.

ANYONE who tries to convince them otherwise are very literally persecuted until they submit. And that is not the worst of it. I was the only person willing to stand against the secret baptizing of homosexuals in our congregation.

That pastor didn't even accept ordination in the SDA church and he laughed about it after putting the church into debt over 2 million dollars. They took away the SDA title and called it "the edge" and brought in a rick band and women elders and then asked the conference to let the pastor keep the tithe to support his "style he was accustom to". He claimed he was worth much more than the conference would give him because he was once the owner of a multi-million dollar company. His partner stole his empire from him and he openly admitted to fantasizing about murdering that man IN HIS SERMONS several times! He had obviously not forgiven him.

I tried and tried to convince him to repent, but he made it his mission to try to destroy me. I tried to reconcile with him even after I found out he was persecuting me behind my back but then he totally cut me off.

I have seen the worst that any of our churches has gone through and God led me right to it. I know He has given me the ministry to reveal these things and sigh and cry for those abominations.

I have not heard of one other person go through as much for righteousness sake in the modern SDA church of America than I have and I PRAISE GOD and thank Him for sending me the perfect wife to witness these things and strengthen my faith that God is with me through it all. Of course she had to come from another country to be isolated from the abominations.

There are a lot of strange things coming into the churches.

The shaking will come and most of those churches will fall away and join the ecumenical movement. We must find those who are sincere Bible believing Adventists and press together in prayer, study and singing fellowship.

"We must press together against obstructions and difficulties, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart."--Review and Herald, Dec. 2, 1890

I'll quote from the sermon notes of Pr. Brownfield, in a sermon dated for 2007, though I have also heard this story, a slightly more detailed version of it, that has been passed down within my family who knew the composer of the hymn "O Shepherd Divine."



In the version I heard, the "author" of the song, the music instructor at an Adventist academy in central California, performed the music with the choir at an Adventist church. After the service, a lady tearfully shared with him how she had heard that song sung years before, decades before it had even been written!

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Why are the "congregations not singing" maybe because the songs are seriously outdated for the people???
It has nothing to do with volume and instruments...