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This is a production of World Video Bible School.
To God be the glory!
When a person visits the Church of Christ, one of the first things he
notices is that our music is different from what you find in most of the
denominational world.
For instance,
we don't have a choir, we don't have a chorus. We don't have instruments, not
even a piano;
and everyone is singing.
In this lesson, we want to talk about one of the five acts of worship, specifically
singing.
We're going to notice four points together in this lesson.
Number one: We must sing according to the truth; Number two: we must sing the
truth;
Number three: We must be truthful about what we sing;
And then fourth: We're going to notice some arguments made concerning the use
of instrumental music.
Alright, let's study together, now, the truth about
singing.
Point number one:
We must sing according to the truth. Now, exactly what do we mean by that?
Well, to do anything according to the truth
means that we do it the right way. It means that we do it according to God's
Word. And, when we talk about singing according to the truth,
we're talking about singing the way the truth tells us to.
And that truth, of course, is the Bible.
So, what does the Bible tell us about "singing according to the truth?"
I want to begin in John, chapter 4 and verse 23.
The Bible says: "But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit
and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and they
that worship Him must worship
in spirit
and truth."
Now, from this passage we learn three things:
First, God desires us to worship Him.
The verse says "the Father is seeking such
to worship Him."
Secondly, we must worship God in spirit. Now, what does it mean to "worship God
in spirit?"
It means that you do it with both your heart
and your mind. It means that you're not just saying the words,
but you mean what you're saying.
Thirdly, from this text, we learn
that we must worship God in truth.
Now, what does it mean to "worship God in truth?"
It means that we worship Him as His word
tells us to.
Now, let's think about this verse in light of our singing. Since singing is an act of
worship, then whatever this verse teaches us about worship then it also applies to
our singing.
Well, first let's make application to the first part of the verse,
where we learn that God desires for us
to sing.
And, not only does He desire it,
He requires it. I hate to say that. I hate to say that God requires for us
to sing,
because we ought to want to do it.
We ought to be like David.
He said, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the
Lord.'" Psalm 122
and verse 1.
I ought to WANT to sing.
"All hail the power of Jesus' name,
let angel's prostrate fall..." or "Our God, he is alive." My soul ought to want to do that.
But I do need to understand that God does require it.
Ephesians 5:19 says:
"Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart
to the Lord."
Colossians 3:16 says: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord."
He requires it. He expects it.
He commands that we do it. But you know,
despite this there're sometimes Christians who sometimes choose not to
sing.
And I have to wonder, what kind of message does that send to others? Maybe
to people who are not Christians who might be visiting.
You know, Matthew 5:16 says: "Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father
in heaven."
And certainly, that would apply to our worship
and to our singing.
Well, secondly, if we must "worship in spirit," then we must also "sing in spirit."
That means we must sing with our hearts
and our minds.
It means that we need to understand and mean
what we are saying when we're singing.
In 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 15, the Bible says: "...I will pray with
the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the
spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding."
Now, I can't say "amen" to a prayer that I don't understand.
And, in the same vein,
how can I sing a song that I don't understand? You know,
sometimes, we point out a problem with the Roman Catholic Church because,
sometimes, they speak in Latin, even though most of the people there don't
understand what's being said. But, you know,
we could be guilty of similar things in our singing
when we sing things that we don't understand.
You know, there's a song that is commonly sung in the Lord's church entitled
"O Thou Fount of Every Blessing."
And I guess I sang that song for years before I ever understood what verse two
meant. It says this:
"Here I raise my Ebenezer,
hither by thy help I've come..."
I didn't know what that was talking about.
Later, I learned it's a reference to 1 Samuel 7 and verse 12.
The children of Israel had won a great defeat against the Philistines, and
Samuel set up a stone as a memorial saying,
"... 'Thus far the Lord has helped us.'" It marked God's help.
So, when I "raise my Ebenezer," it's a figurative way of saying,
"God has helped me. He has got me
this far." Now, another common song that some people have said they don't
understand
is "Night With Ebon Pinion."
One phrase in that song says:
"Night with ebon pinion,
brooded o'er the vale..."
Well, what's that talking about?
It's figurative language. "Ebon" means "black." "Pinion" is "a wing."
"Brooded o'er the vale" means "hanging over the valley." It's a figurative way to
express the blackness and great sorrow
of the terrible things happening to Christ.
But, sometimes understanding is not the problem.
Sometimes, concentrating is the problem.
You know, we're singing the words,
but, we're not really thinking about what we're saying.
Have you ever done that?
You know, sometimes we get more interested in the notes of the song, and
in the time signature, and the song leaders hand motions, than we are in the
words that we're actually speaking to God
and to one another.
You know, sometimes
we might be more interested in how pretty the song sounds,
than in the message that it actually contains.
You know, worship
takes effort.
Our singing requires focus on the words that we're saying.
Otherwise,
the words are vain and empty.
We need to give it our all.
We're worshiping the God of the Universe.
Now, thirdly,
as we apply John 4:24 to our singing,
we learn that we must sing not only in spirit,
but also in truth. That is, we must sing according to the truth.
We must sing in the way that the truth directs us to. Now,
do you know why we don't use a piano or some other mechanical instrument in our
worship in the Church of Christ?
It isn't because we don't like instrumental music, because we do.
But, it's because the truth does not direct us to.
It's because
there's no authority for it in the Bible.
And everything we do in religion.
must have authority
from God! You know,
why don't we use peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches and orange juice on the
Lord's table?
Again, it's because there's no authority for it. Actually, it would be contrary to
authority. God said to use unleavened bread
and fruit of the vine.
And to use something else, or to use something additional,
would simply be without
Biblical authority. And the same thing is true with regard to instruments
in our song service.
That's not the way that God said that we're to worship Him in song.
He said,
that we're to "sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord."
And so, to add an instrument would be to add to His authority.
It would be to speak
where God has not.
Colossians 3:17 says: "... Whatever you do in word or deed,
do all of the name of the Lord Jesus..."
Now, "in the name of the Lord" means:
"by the authority of the Lord."
You know, if a policeman said,
"Stop in the name of the law,"
what does he mean?
He means:
"By the authority of the law,
I'm telling you to stop."
And, in a like manner, everything that we do in religion and in worship to God, has to be
done with authority from God. But, you know, many people don't understand this
very basic Bible principle. And so, instead of doing only what God has
authorized, they do what they want to do.
And their defense is:
"Well, the Bible doesn't say NOT to."
I want you to imagine for a moment the following scenario.
Imagine that a man hires a contractor to remodel his kitchen.
And specifically, he wants new tile and new paint.
But, suppose when he comes home from his vacation, he's given a bill for triple
what he expected. Because, in addition to laying tile and painting the kitchen,
the contractor also tore out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.
And
he's also built a deck on the back of the house.
And the customer is furious and he says,
"I didn't authorize all of this!"
The contractor says,
"I know, but
you didn't say NOT to."
Now, suppose the case is taken to court.
How do you suppose the judge is going to rule?
You see, we understand the principle of authority here,
but many people disregard it when it comes to the Bible.
Friends, when we ignore the principle of authority,
then anything goes.
Okay.
That's the first point. "We must worship God
according to
the truth."
And, if we don't do that, then we are not true worshipers.
And this verse says that God "is seeking true
worshipers
to worship Him." If somebody says,
"Well, if my worship is not true worship,
then what is it?"
Well, Matthew 15:9 discusses something called
"vain worship." Acts 17:23 discusses "ignorant worship."
Colossians 2:23 discusses "will worship." It may be one of these.
But, if it's not according to the truth, then it's not
true worship.
Now, our second main point is that,
not only must it be according to the truth,
but "we also must sing
the truth."
You know, whenever a bible class teacher gets up to teach or
a preacher gets up to preach,
we expect him to teach the truth.
And to stand up and teach something other than the truth,
even unknowingly,
is very serious. And so,
James wrote: "... Brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive
a stricter judgment," James 3:1.
Now, in light of that,
did you realize that when we are singing, we're teaching?
Listen again to Colossians 3:16:
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord."
Now, question:
"If singing is teaching,
is it okay for us to sing false doctrine?" Can we forbid that
a certain doctrine be preached from the pulpit,
but then sing it as a part of our worship?
You know, the song leader has a great responsibility here.
Because
he not only needs to know something about music and be able to lead,
but he must also be educated in the truth
because he is leading us in words that should praise God, but also should "teach and
admonish one another."
You'd like to think that all of the songs in our songbook would be
scriptural,
but, unfortunately, that's not the case.
A lot of the songs in our book were written by people who
are members of denominations.
You know, there are songs in our book that deal with premillennialism.
There are songs that teach the "sinner's prayer."
There are songs that teach error about the workings of the Holy Spirit.
And some of them are blatant, and
some of them are not as obvious.
One song that appears in many brotherhood songbooks is called
"Just A Little Talk With Jesus."
And part of it says this:
"I once was lost in sin,
but Jesus took me in,
and then a little light from heaven filled my soul;
It bathed my heart in love and wrote my name above,
and just a little talk with Jesus
makes me whole..."
Now, that's the denominational concept called "the sinner's prayer"
and it's not biblical.
Now, we could give a lot more examples, but the point that we're making is this: it
is important that we sing
the truth.
Point number one: We must sing according to the truth;
Point number two:
We must sing the truth;
And, point number three:
We must be truthful
about what we sing.
You know, the Bible certainly teaches that it's wrong to lie, and in the same
vein, it's wrong to make promises that we have no intention of keeping.
But, you know, herein lies a trap that we may fall into with regard to our
singing. I saw
a kind of a "tongue-in-cheek" bulletin article one time
that talked about our songs.
It was entitled:
"The Way We'd Sing
if We Were Honest."
And then, it listed some of the songs.
One of them was: "Oh, How I Like Jesus," instead of "Oh, How I Love Jesus."
One of them was:
"He's Quite a Bit to Me," instead of "He's Everything to Me."
One of them was:
"I Love to Talk About Telling the Story,"
instead of "I Love to Tell the Story." Now, like I said, it was kind of
tongue-in-cheek.
But, that's the way it might be if we were really honest
about the things that we sing.
Sometimes, we say things in songs that we have no intention of living up to.
Or, maybe it's not that.
Maybe we have a different problem.
Maybe it goes back to the issue of "not worshiping in spirit." Maybe we're just
not paying that much attention
to what we're saying in our songs.
You know, we sing songs like: "To the work, to the work,
we are servants of God..."
or "Toiling on, toiling on..."
But, are we actually toiling?
You know, toiling
is striving. It is working.
Are we doing that
or are we just saying that?
You know, I've always thought it was strange that people would sing:
"To the work, to the work,"
and then they don't come back on Sunday night.
Or, here's a hard one. The song entitled:
I Surrender All."
It says, "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give..."
Now, do you really mean that?
All of my time, all of my money,
all of my desires?
Listen to some others:
"Each day I'll do a golden deed
by helping those who are in need.
My life on earth is but a span,
and so I'll do the best I can..." Or, this one:
"Father in the morning
Unto Thee
I pray;
Let Thy loving kindness keep me through this day.
I will pray, I will pray...
morning, noon and evening,
Unto Thee
I'll pray."
Or this:
"Where He leads me I will follow,
I'll go with Him,
with Him
all the way."
I wonder how many people, who are unfaithful today,
once sang that song?
"I'll go with Him
all the way."
We need to sing
according to the truth.
We need to sing
the truth.
And, we need to be truthful
about what we sing. And now,
we want to do one more thing that I think is very important.
And that is,
I want to look at some of the arguments that are made by people who seek to
justify the use of instrumental music in the worship service.
And you might say,
"Well, you know, we kind of dealt with that already when we discussed singing
according to the truth. And that's true. But,
in this point, I want to give special attention to this because this seems to
be a real stumbling block for many people.
And, it's something that
sometimes new converts have difficulty understanding. And so, what I
want to do, is to examine some of the arguments made by the defenders of
instrumental music.
And then, we want to answer
those arguments.
Alright, argument number one:
Someone argued,
"God commanded the use of instrumental music in worship in the Old Testament."
2 Chronicles 29:25-29. Well, you
know it's true that God commanded instrumental music in the Old Testament.
Sometimes I've heard people argue that
instrumental music was never approved of God and they'll go to passages like Amos,
chapter 5, to try to prove their point. Amos 5:23,
God told Israel: "Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments."
But, you see, the reason God rejected their music there was
not because of the instruments,
it was because of the hypocrisy.
In the previous verse,
He rejected their offerings, but not because he opposed burnt offerings. But,
because of their hypocrisy. Now, if you drop down to Amos 6 in verse 5,
again, sometimes people argue that this verse condemned instrumental music in
the Old Testament.
The Lord says there that
they "invented themselves instruments of music as did David,"
and that they're condemned for that.
But, that's not what the verse is doing. It's not condemning instruments.
It's discussing the life of luxury they were living. Verse 1 says:
"Woe to you who are at ease in Zion."
Verse 4 says:
"... They lie on beds of ivory, and they stretch upon couches, and they eat
lambs of their flock..."
Verse 5 says: "They sing and make music..."
And so, some people believe that that condemns music in the Old Testament. But
you see, the idea is the luxurious life they were living.
Now, 2 Chronicles 29:25,
does specifically state
that instrumental music was commanded of the Lord
by the prophets.
But you see, the problem is
that that was the Old Testament.
And Colossians 2:14 says that that was "nailed to the cross."
And we could go back and pick out lots of things that applied under the Old Law,
but don't apply to us today.
You know, the Lord commanded animal sacrifices under the Old Law.
But, that doesn't mean it's okay for Christians today to engage
in animal sacrifices.
Okay, argument number two:
Somebody says,
"The New Testament doesn't specifically condemn the use of instrumental
music in any way."
Now, we've already talked about this. You know,
"the Bible doesn't say NOT to" argument, is really the argument that is being made
here.
This is an argument that's based on a gross misunderstanding of how the Lord
authorizes.
You know, the New Testament does not specifically condemn peanutbutter and
jelly on the Lord's table.
But, when the Lord specifies what He wants, that settles the matter.
And the New Testament does specifically tell us
that when God is silent about a matter,
that means that we cannot do it. That is,
we do not have authority for it. Now, let me give you an example of this principle.
In Hebrews, chapter 7,
the inspired writer makes the argument
that Christ could not be a priest on this earth.
Now, why not?
Because He was of the tribe of Judah.
Now, somebody says, "So what? You show me a verse that says someone from the tribe
of Judah can NOT be a priest."
And you know what?
There's not one.
Then, why can't Christ be a priest?
Listen to Hebrews 7 and verse 14. The Bible says: "For it is evident that our Lord
arose from Judah,
of which tribe Moses spoke nothing
concerning priesthood."
You see, he didn't say it was wrong.
He just didn't say anything about it.
And, with nothing being said,
there was no authority for it.
And it would have been wrong
to do it anyway.
Those who make the argument that the Bible doesn't say not to,
really, they haven't learned to respect
the silence of the Scriptures. They really don't understand Bible
authority.
Now, argument number three:
Someone says: "The word for 'making melody' (in Ephesians 5:19),
comes from the Greek word 'psyllo'
which includes the idea of using stringed instruments in praise to God."
You know, this is an interesting argument.
It is claimed by those who defend the use of mechanical instruments,
that Greek lexicons render this verb to mean "to twitch,
twang, or pluck."
And so, they say that this argument constitutes authority for the use of
instrumental music.
But first,
we are told what it IS that we are to pluck in the very same verse. And it's not
a mechanical instrument,
but rather it's the human heart.
It's figuratively saying
"pluck the heartstrings."
And that's why the translators have translated it to say
"make music or make melody
in your heart."
Now, it's significant that there are no mechanical instruments mentioned here.
Now, secondly,
if this verse did refer to a stringed instrument,
then it would be required of all Christians to play one,
since this verse is applicable
to all Christians. Okay, argument number four:
Someone says: "Revelation 5:8 and 14:2 and 15:2, all mention
harps, stringed instruments, in heaven."
And although Revelation is full of symbolic language, they would say:
"Would God use a symbol of an instrument
if he does not indeed approval of their use in worship?"
You know, I would point out that the Book of Revelation also mentions an altar,
and a golden incense, and the burning of incense. All of these things which
are figures from the Old Testament.
But, that doesn't mean that they're authorized
in New Testament worship.
This argument could also be used to bring back the burning of incense in our
worship, just as easily as it could
to argue for instrumental music.
Okay argument number five:
Some have said,
"This is just not a salvation issue. Instrumental music is not that important.
It's not a salvation issue."
I wonder what Nadab and Abihu would say if you asked them if how we worship God
is really a salvation issue.
Friends, John 4:24 says: "God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and truth." "Must" is an imperative.
And, one who thinks that how you worship God doesn't really matter,
he's just fooling himself.
The Lord said about the days of the Jews,
He said,
"In vain they do worship Me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men,"
Matthew 15:9. You know,
when we teach people to do something in worship that
God has taught us
not to do,
then our worship becomes vain.
And vain means "empty or worthless."
Friends, a man can't go to heaven offering God empty
and worthless worship.
Okay, argument number six:
You might call this the "natural talent" argument.
This argument suggests that playing an instrument is a natural talent that
some people have. And therefore, using instruments in worship gives them the
opportunity
to use this talent
to serve the Lord.
But you know, there are some people who have a natural talent for cooking.
But that doesn't mean that it should be brought into worship.
If natural talent were the basis and standard for our worship,
then God wouldn't have given us specific acts.
He would have simply said,
"Just act naturally."
Okay, argument number seven: You might call this "music in the home" argument.
It says that if music is okay in my home,
then it's alright in worship.
But you know, such an argument assumes that whatever is acceptable in the home,
is also acceptable in worship of God.
And that simply is not the case.
You know, eating a common meal is acceptable in my home,
but it is not acceptable as an act of worship. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11,
the
Corinthian brothers were scolded for treating the Lord's Supper like a common
meal. You know, we could make a long list of things
that are acceptable in the home,
but are not acceptable in worship to God. Argument number eight is the
"Aid Argument."
Sometimes people will try to say that,
"The piano is no different from a songbook, it's just an aid."
But you see,
there is a difference. The Bible gives us authority for songbooks and it's in the
command
to sing. In order to carry out that command, we have to have words.
And so, a songbook aids us in producing what God has asked for.
But you see, playing the piano is an addition.
It creates a second type of music.
You have not only the type of music that is "the music of the heart" being
offered, but you also have "the music of the piano" being offered. You see, when
you get through using the songbook,
all you have done is sing.
But, when you get through playing the piano,
you have sung and you have played.
You have made two different types of music:
one that is authorized,
and one that is not.
You know, we could go on and on with these arguments. But it really comes down to
the question, "What has God ask for? What has God authorized for us to do
in New Testament worship?" Now, let me read you some verses and then we're
going to sum all of this up.
First, Romans 15:9: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,
and sing to Your name." 1 Corinthians 14:15: "What is the conclusion
then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will
sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding." Ephesians
5:19: "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart
to the Lord."
Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord." Hebrews 2:12:
"I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing
praise to You."
Now, let's sum all of this up.
What has God authorized us to do in our worship with regard to music?
Singing;
Speaking to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs;
Teaching and admonishing one another in song;
Singing, making melody in our hearts.
And friends, if we offer a different type of music to God than what we have just
read and covered, then we are not offering to Him the type of music
that He asked for.