Great Truths and Relevant Prophecies for all
Nations and Peoples during this 21st Century
September 19, 2024
HOME | REVELATION 21ST CENTURY COMMENTARY | ADDITIONAL PROPHECIES | REBORN | SOCIAL CULTURAL ETHICAL | INTELLIGENCE KNOWLEDGE WISDOM | COMFORT and HEALING | MORTAL to IMMORTAL | WORLD RELIGIONS | BELIEF DISBELIEF | DEITY | VIDEOS | ABOUT | RECOMMENDED SITES | SPANISH SITE EDITORIAL LA PAZ | Documents for Limited Use Smartphones
Highlighted today: Approaching God in Search of Honor, Glory, and Immortality
Peace Publishers LLC. Resources for self-instruction, classes, sermons, and conferences in fifteen categories. A Commentary on Revelation by HD Shappley is being added.
Translate documents on this site using Google’s Gemini (over 100 languages
and the dialects for them), or Microsoft Copilot..
Making Beautiful Music in the Midst of Ruins
In a country of Eastern Europe, a solitary musician, in formal dress, plays his cello in the midst of ruins. Perhaps some spontaneous composition of his own inspiration. Or, maybe a classical melody. Slow and mournful music or a very fast and defiant rhythm with nuances of indignation and anger? Whatever the music, the man is alive and playing, a significant reality in and of itself.
Seated on a hard, broken stone, and not on a pillowed cushion. In a shattered structure filled with rubble, and not in an elegant concert hall, luxurious and comfortable. Destruction all about. Broken windows and doors. Caved in roof. But, the man is alive and making music!
When life itself is surrounded by ruins, or has itself become ruins, a key to survival is, precisely, to continue to make music! Quality music! Beautiful music! In the midst of frustrations, failures, anxieties and suffering. These “ruins,” in the context of careers, employment or business; of social relationships,
marriage or family; of sicknesses of the body, mind or spirit; of dashed dreams or hopes. In the midst of them, keep on making music!
Lovely music, and not a cacophony of strident cords or an unpleasant mixture of discordant pieces that hurt the ear and offend the sensibilities of the listener.
Striving with great energy, tenacious determination, and invincible courage lest one’s own character, personality and inner self become jumbled ruins, all twisted and broken into pieces.
Dress well, literally, at all times, if you possibly can, and not with just any old trappings that would project loss of dignity, noble purpose, hope and self-esteem.
Take the lyre of the heart, the cello of the mind and the sitar of the spirit, instruments made from living experiences and tuned with celestial wisdom, playing smooth and comforting melodies that calm your being, as well as that
of others who listen to the pleasant music of a spirit in harmony with its divine Life Giver and Sustainer.
Play, even though no other musician plays with you. Solitary music by a solitary musician. Inward, of the spirit. At times, delicate, ethereal, out of this world. At other times, moving, powerful, triumphant over the world. Strains bringing to mind the music of the morning stars heard in the heavens when the universe was created, (1) of a multitude of heavenly beings when the Messiah was born in a manger in Bethlehem, (2) the praise psalms of King David, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. (3) Numbers in parenthesis correspond to texts cited in full at the end of this article.
While it may be that not a few make some kind of music when life, or a part of it, is in ruins, and a great many allow themselves to become part of the ruins, the
most beautiful music is made by human beings who are closest to the Supreme Being who conceived the remarkable science of music, making it available on earth. These are the ones who believe in Him as the Rewarder of the justs (4) and have purified their souls through obedience to the Truth (5), receiving the washing of regeneration (6), that is to say, baptism for the forgiveness of sins,(7), thereby also receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. (8)
By being baptized they put on Christ (9), becoming clothed with His divine light, holiness, power and glory, and are declared sons of God (10) in virtue of their marvelous spiritual transformation. (11) This rebirth of the mind and spirit enables them to make SPIRITUAL MUSIC (12), and not merely earthly or carnal music. Angry, violent
or even blasphemous music. When the material world around them becomes ruins to one degree or another.
If you do not possess this fantastic ability to make spiritual music, but would like to have it, it will be yours when you qualify for it in the same manner as those did who already have made it theirs. The simple yet highly significant steps are set forth in the Bible texts below. (13)
Dear reader, following are the Bible texts on which are based the observations and facts in this message identified by small numbers in parenthesis. Please read them. They are a vital part of this message.
1, Job 38:4-7. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
2. Luke 2:13. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!’”
3. Revelation 15:3-4. “And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages! Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship thee, for thy judgments have been revealed.’”
4. Hebrews 11:6. “And without faith, it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
5. 1 Peter 1:22. “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart.”
6. Titus 3:4-5. “…but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit…”
7. Acts 2:36-38 y 42. “Let all the house of Israel, therefore, know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” “And they devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
8. Acts 2:38. “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized… for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
9. Galatians 3:25-27. “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
10. 1 John 3:1. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
11. 2 Corinthians 3:18. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Romans 12:2. “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
12. Ephesians 5:19. “… addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart…”
13. What they did is defined in the next to the last paragraph of this article. Hear the true gospel, believe, repent, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, persevering until death in righteous living. These steps are backed fully by Scriptural texts, a number of which are cited in this section. The church that faithfully presents this divine plan of salvation is identified concisely in “We Invite You to Learn about the Church Built by Christ.”
Text and Document Composition by the author Homer Dewayne Shappley. All rights reserved. The only restrictions on the use of this document are the sale of it in any format and proper identification of its origin.